What Happens In Braavos Stays In Braavos and Other Assorted Tales
by The Quickening
Summary: A collection of short stories based on the works of George R R Martin. First up is the story of what happens to Cersei after her champion Robert Strong is defeated by Sandor Clegane. Sent off to Braavos to live in The Sept Beyond the Sea Cersei has revenge on her mind and The God of Death on her side, or so she thinks. There is another in Braavos who seeks revenge as well.
1. Chapter 1

Cersei

"How long have I been here? Days, weeks, months, years? How long have I sat here naked and shivering on the floor with nothing more than a pallet of straw to sleep on and an old thread bare blanket to keep me warm?" She had never known such misery. When she'd been held here before it hadn't been this bad or so she kept telling herself. She'd been the Queen Regent then that may have made her first imprisonment less harsh, as bad as it had been.

She wasn't Queen Regent anymore thanks to Sandor Clegane. "What had happened to Qyburn?" He'd been standing near the ring watching the fight when she'd seen him collapse to the ground. Not long after Qyburn fell her champion had. She remembered screaming and collapsing herself then nothing else until she awoke in this cold cell naked and shivering.

When she had come to her pleas to see the High Septon had been ignored. Her only visitors were two silent Septas that brought her food and emptied her slop bucket, neither saying a word no matter how loudly she cursed at them. She'd stopped screaming, ranting, cursing and threatening two days ago. Now when they came she was as silent as they were. Dangerously silent.

They had no idea what she was thinking now behind her cold, emotionless eyes. "I'll get them all", she vowed to herself as she thought and waited away the long, dark, cold hours of her imprisonment.

She heard the rattle of the key in the door way earlier than she expected. When the door open her eyes were stabbed by the light of a lantern that she had to turn away from. Through the fingers of the hand she held in front of her face she could see the hand and arm of the person holding the lantern. It was covered with a long white sleeve, as her eyes adjusted to the light she saw that the sleeve was attached to a white robe. "So he's finally come to see me. I wonder what new torture he has in mind."

He bent over and with the hand not holding the lantern he scooped up a stool from outside the door, walked in, dropped it to the floor and had a seat. "Cersei", he said. She said nothing. "I've come to tell you that you'll be leaving us this very night". A spear of hope as white hot as the flame in the lantern pierced her heart. "I'm sending you somewhere you'll find much more comfortable, somewhere that's much warmer, somewhere you can serve God in quiet contemplation for the rest of your life. If you behave yourself and do as you're told you will have the freedom that every other faithful septa enjoys. With certain restrictions of course. In time, I'm sure you will come to embrace the peacefulness of your new life as you earn The Father's forgiveness by taking care of his less fortunate children". "Where?", she mumbled expecting the worst. "You're going to Braavos to the Sept-Beyond the Sea", he replied. " It's a long way to Braavos you bastard", she thought but didn't say.

As if reading her mind he said, "I hope you behave on the trip Cersei, the septas and the Warrior's Sons who will be going with you will treat you as well as you treat them. It's up to you if you walk on your own two feet or have to be dragged, if you wear chains or go unbound." She looked at him for a moment afraid that he would see the truth behind the lie she was about to tell him.

"There is nothing left for me Most Holy. I have no family left that cares about me. I'm sure Tyrion has killed Tommen and will soon kill Myrcella if he hasn't already. Jaime abandoned me to my fate. I have no home. I'm tired Most Holy. Tired of fighting. Sick to my battered soul of King's Landing. I want nothing more than to cast off the burdens of family and crown and retire somewhere quietly to live out my days in peace be it in Braavos or where ever you send me."

He looked at her for a long time before saying, "I believe you Cersei". "Do you High Septon? I find it hard to believe that anyone would or could believe a word I said no matter how true the words are". "I'm a very good judge when it comes to the truth child and I see the truth in your eyes". "Idiot and fool" she thought, "I'll kill you before this is over."

She burst into tears but not for the reason the fool sitting across from her thought. She would be free of this cell and him where she could put her plan into action. Once she was not even god would be able to help the ones that were responsible for where she was now. She'd get them all starting with him, Mace Tyrell and his slut of a daughter and not stop until she killed Sandor Clegane. In the mean time, she continued to weep and thank her jailor. She'd grovel at his feet if need be.

She was finally given clothes and a bath if one considered a plain gray robe clothes and a bucket of water and a sponge a bath. She said nothing to the two septas dressed in similar gray robes that attended her other than to offer them an apology for her previous behavior. They nodded but said nothing. "I'll kill you too", she thought as she put the robe on.

Once she was bathed and dressed they left her, leaving behind the lantern so she wouldn't be plunged into darkness again. When the door closed behind them, she grinned. Had someone been there to see it they would have told her the grin was more akin to a twisted snarl. They would also have said that she was completely insane judging by the look of her face. A face she kept hidden when someone was around.

She waited and waited for someone to return. "Has this all been a lie, some new form of torture?", she wondered as she waited. She was close to renewing her screams and rantings as she paced back and forth across the tiny cell that seemed to be getting smaller with ever step she took. When she finally heard the familiar sound of the key in the lock, she stopped in her tracks and composed herself. When the door opened the High Septon once again entered he saw a robed woman, quiet and repentant with her head bowed, eyes down cast. "It's time child", he said reaching out his hand to her. "If he calls me child one more time", she thought as she timidly took his offered hand, and he led her out of hell.

Outside the door, he introduced her to two septas in blue robes. "Septa Roslyn and Septa Alynni will be your traveling companions Cersei". The shapeless robes could not hide the fact that both woman were bigger than she was. She nodded once and mumbled a hello that she hoped sound polite despite what she was thinking, they followed along behind her and the High Septon as they made their way down the hall.

She almost betrayed herself when they reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the great hall where she saw five Warrior's Sons waiting for them. It wasn't the fact that they were Warrior's Sons that came close to destroying all of her plans it was the fact that Lancel was one of them. "Your escort to Braavos Cersei", the High Septon said. "I thought that you would appreciate your cousin being among them". It took everything she had not to attack Lancel. He was smirking at her, goading her to do something. He escorted her once before as she'd walked naked through the streets of King's Landing.

She took a deep breath and smiled from the confines of the cowl of her robe. "Lancel, I'm so very glad that you'll be coming to Braavos with me." "I wouldn't miss this for anything Cersei", he said smugly. "Lancel is one of our best most devoted and devout Warrior's Sons", the High Septon grinned. "I'm very glad you'll be there to defend us if there's trouble", she said warmly. "I'll kill you too you smug little bastard", she thought. "Just you wait". Lancel looked somewhat disappointed by her reaction. A test and judging by his face she past it. She turned to look at the High Septon and smiled, "May I have a moment to light some candles at the statues Most Holy?" "Of course child, take all the time you need."

What she prayed for as she lit the candles at the feet of all the statues wasn't what the normal pious person would have prayed for. Though she lit a candle for the Mother and Maiden for show, she had nothing to say or ask of them. The mercy of the Mother and the innocence of the Maiden had no place in her plan. Strength of mind and body so that she could take her revenge she asked of the Warrior. From the Smith, she asked that her labors toward her revenge be successful. The Crone she asked for the wisdom to see opportunities for revenge when and where they presented themselves. She asked the Father to let her sit in judgment on all of those who wronged her. And last but not least she paused before the Stranger and asked that he let her be his instrument of death.

When she returned to where her future victims stood waiting the High Septon narrowed his eyes and looked at her. "The Stranger child, what could you have to pray to him about I wonder?" She smiled at him, "I asked that he let the old Cersei and all the bad things she's done die and let a new Cersei take her place". The fool was so impressed with that tears of joy filled his eyes.

Her escort of Warrior's Son surrounding they walked toward the door, the High Septon himself in the lead, the two Septas bring up the rear. When the door open and she looked out for the first time in she wasn't sure how long she was surprised to see that it was night. She'd lost all track of time while in her cell, had, in fact, thought that it was day.

Once in the plaza she was hurried over to a coach where Lancel opened the door and then shoved her inside. Once the Two Septas and the High Septon joined her inside he shut the door, hollered at the driver and the coach lurched forward. She could hear but not see the horses the rest of her escort rode surrounding the coach as they made their way through town to the docks. "They really must not want anyone to see me leave in the middle of the night she thought, are they afraid that someone will try to rescue me?" She never considered for a moment that maybe it was to protect her from an angry mob who wanted her dead.

"Are there people who still supported me?" For a moment in her mind's eye, she saw Jaime riding to her rescue cutting down everyone in his path. "That's not going to happen, he's abandoned me like all the rest. His turn will come." If there were others who thought to rescue her they made no attempt to do so as they continued on their way.

"You'll be sailing to Braavos on the merchant vessel High Hope; she'll be ready to leave as soon as we get there, you and your escort will be the only passengers, I've made sure of it". "Thank you Most Holy she murmured and isn't that a fitting name?" "How so Cersei?" "I have high hopes of putting my time here behind me and starting a new life." He grinned, reached over and patted her hand. "It makes me feel good to hear you say that child." She returned his smile. It was going to make her feel good to plunge a knife through his heart. Either she was a better liar than she thought or he was a bigger fool than she gave him credit for. Whichever, it really didn't matter, he'd be dead soon.

The coach came to a stop and, within seconds of it doing so, the door was snatched open, and they climbed out. She loved the smell of the ocean, always had, but the odor here at the docks was redolent with the smell of fish,tar and unwashed men. She wrinkled her nose, lifted the hem of her robe up as if it had been one of her finest gowns and followed where the High Septon lead.

They walked almost the entire length of the dock until at last they came to a ship riding the swells all alone far beyond where the other ships were moored. He really doesn't want anyone to see this she thought as she came to a stop beside him. "This is it Cersei, this is where your old life ends and your new one begins". I hope you will make the best of the chance you're being given". "I will Most Holy", she told him while mentally seeing herself plunge a knife into his chest. "You've been most kind to me, more so than I know I deserve." "The Father forgives his children Cersei, who am I not to? Safe journey child", he said as he kissed her on both cheeks. She followed the Septas up the gang plank and boarded the ship without a backward glance. "You and God may forgive but I never will."

She stood on the deck of High Hope looking at the lights of the sleeping city that had been her home for twenty and five years slide past as the ship glided away from the dock and made its way into the Blackwater Bay. "My home, my city, my throne", she thought as the sailors scurried around her. "I'll be back, soon." The two Septas stood not far from where she leaned on the rail whispering quietly to each other of the perils of sea travel and the terrible sickness that came with it. They knew their charge had nowhere to run so they relaxed their vigil over her.

"I know you're up to something Cersei", a man's voice whispered to her in the darkness, to low for the Septas to hear. It was his voice. "Whatever do you mean Lancel?" "Don't play the innocent penitent with me Cersei. I know you to well and wish to God I didn't." "Have you repented Lancel? Did you fall down on your knees and beg forgiveness for climbing into my bed and murdering Robert?" "I did, I spent hours on my knees begging forgiveness Cersei and finally it was granted. I prayed I would see you fall, and you did." He was baiting her. Was he foolish enough to think she didn't know it?

"I spent hours in my cell begging for forgiveness too Lancel and when I'd lost all hope that it would be granted the High Septon came to me and told me I was leaving this place. I knew that I had been given a sign that it was time to start over and begin a new life. I was forgiven." She turned to look at him in the lantern light.

What she saw there almost made her laugh out loud. He wanted to believe her. Almost did. It would take very little to push him over the edge to true belief. "Perhaps The Father has a plan for us and this is the part of his plan where we forgive each other as he has forgiven us. I'm weary of fighting Lancel. I long for peace inside myself and with those around me."

He was so close, then he stopped. "I'll think about what you've said Cersei. In the mean time, I'll be watching you closely." She nodded then looked at the deck of the ship. "I don't blame you Lancel after everything I've done but I know you're a good man and you'll see the truth about me soon." She looked up at him and smiled as sweetly as she could. He trembled all over, excused himself and walked over to his men.

As she looked out across the water, she grinned. He was as big a fool as all the other men she'd met in her life, when she saw the effect her smile had on him, the way he trembled, she knew that despite his vows to be chaste he still thought with the head between his legs. She didn't need him for her plan to succeed what she did need was for him to trust her enough to be able to put it into action. She needed him to relax and feel at ease. She wanted it to be a surprise when she killed him. She joined the Septas and told them she was ready to go to their room. They looked relieved to hear it.

A week into their trip she was the only one aside from the captain and crew that wasn't suffering from seasickness. Both Septas were so sick that she could have fucked every man on board, neither would have noticed. She delighted in their discomfort. She had begun to think of them as the cows, Cow Roslyn and Cow Alynni. Cow Alynni had big, dumb, brown eyes and about as much sense as the cow she looked like. Cow Roslyn was older and a little smarter but nowhere near as smart as she thought she was. She was as big as a cow and had a large mole on her left cheek that sprouted a ridiculously long hair that she had to fight the temptation to snatch out. They were both slow and stupid and believed every word she said about wanting to forget the past and start a new life serving God. The only problems she had was trying to find a place away from all the retching and keeping Lancel as convinced as the cows were.

If she stayed below in her room, the sound of their retching would almost make her scream, the smell enough to make her sick. When she would leave the room to go on deck for some air and solitude, she'd find all five of the Warrior's Sons retching over the rail. She'd had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the sight of Lancel's face.

Instead of laughing she'd play the good septa in training and bring them water and wine, telling them that they had to eat and drink no matter if they sicked it all back up because the dehydration brought on by all the retching would kill them. It helped that the sailors all agreed. Had she had a vial of poison she could have killed all of the Sons and the Septas too.

The captain and crew would have thought the sickness took them if she killed them off one at a time. She didn't have poison. What she did have was a knife, a big one that she'd taken from the cook when he wasn't looking. It was wrapped in cloth and tied to her upper thigh under her robe. All she was waiting for now was a chance to use it and a likely victim to use it on. Her chance came on the eighth night at sea.

The sea was particular angry, not so much that it bothered or alarmed her but enough to keep everyone below deck except the captain who stood at the wheel, volunteering to take the night watch to give the crew some much needed rest. He'd told her earlier in the day that they had just passed Crackclaw Point and were heading north, far out from both the eastern shore of Westeros and the western shore of Essos so as not to run into any pirates. That had worried her. "If I'm killed in an attack by pirates I'll never get my revenge."

She'd returned to her room to find Septa Roslyn near comatose from dehydration. She'd done her part to get the woman to drink and made sure that everyone knew she had, but the fool had refused. When Lancel had ordered several of the men to hold her down while he poured water into her she'd sicked back up what little she gotten. She would be an easy kill.

Septa Alynni was little better but was trying to drink and eat. She'd made some progress in doing both and was strong enough to walk around. "I'm feeling better", the cow had smiled when she'd come back in from the deck. "I'm so glad to hear it Septa Alynni", she'd lied. She spent the rest of the day helping one cow take care of the other and waiting for the chance to kill the one so determined to hang onto life. She was quite convinced that the idiot had thrown up everything inside of her including her toes.

Well after midnight as the sea was acting up even more, Cow Alynni started to look at little green. "Why don't you take a walk on deck Alynni? I'm sure the fresh air will make you feel better. No offense to Septa Roslyn but this cabin reeks." "It does doesn't it?", the cow replied. "Poor thing", she said as she tucked the covers around Cow Roslyn. "Will you come with me Cersei? I'd be afraid to go up on deck in the dark." "Of course I will dear, I could use some air myself." "Do you think Roslyn will be all right?" "The Mother will watch over her Alynni."

Quiet as mice they opened the hatch and went out onto the deck. From where he stood at the wheel above and forward of the hatch the captain never saw them, the noise from the waves slapping the side of the ship hid any sound they may have made. When Cow Alynni started to walk forward, she took her by the arm and led her to the back of the ship, in the darkness where no one would see them. "This way Alynni, the motion of the ship will be less noticeable back here", she whispered. "Thank you Cersei, I didn't know that." "I lied foolish cow", she thought.

They made their way to the rail at the back of the ship and stood looking out at the cold, black restless sea. "See its not so bad Alynni once you get use to it." The woman's hands grasped the rail tightly as she tried to be brave. Walking around behind her, she pretended to be looking out at the sea from both sides of the ship while talking about her childhood and how much she loved the sea. In the darkness she lifted her robe, reached under it to her thigh and drew her knife. "How do you feel dear?", she asked approaching the cow from behind. "Not so well I'm afraid", she said just before leaning way out over the rail and retching.

It was to easy. No cow, no matter how big, was a match for a lioness. Snatching hold of Cow Alynni's hair and yanking her head back, she brought the knife around and cut her throat. Both blood and puke spewed from the gaping wound. She held the cow's body wedged between her own and the rail as her life faded away. It was as simple as taking a step back and letting the upper half of her body still hanging over the rail drag the lower half over and into the sea. She made a louder splash than she thought she would and stood frozen at the rail waiting on the sound of the captain's voice, bloody knife still clutched in her hand. Seconds past that seemed like hours as she waited, she heard nothing. Taking a deep shuttering breath, she stepped back from the rail into the shadows.

She retrieved the rag she had wrapped the knife in and used it to clean away the blood then checked the rail which was clean and tossed the rag into the sea. There was blood on her hand and the sleeve of her robe. Shit, she whispered. If she ran into anyone going back chances were good that it would be too dark for them to see it. She waited until the waves boomed against the ship before opening the hatch and silently returning to her room.

When she opened the door to her room the smell almost made her gag. Ignoring it as best she could, she locked the door, walked to the bucket of water, removed the lid and quickly washed her hands and the sleeve of her robe. In the light she could see that it wasn't really all that bad, just a drop or two on the cuff and like the blood on her hands easily washed away. She then turned her attention to Cow Roslyn.

"Not doing so good are you?", she said leaning over the woman despite the reek coming off of her and listening to her shallow breathing. "The question is do I kill you or do I let nature take its course? You're a tough old cow; you might pull through, unfortunately for you, I can't take that chance."

Her intentions were to smother her with a pillow but just how much life did she have left in her and how much of a struggle would she put up? That the cow out weighed her was obvious, she doubted that she'd be able to hold her down, keep her quiet and smother her all at the same time. She thought about knocking her out but worried that doing so would leave a bump on her head that Lancel or one of the others would notice. She had an idea.

When Lancel came to check on them before going to bed, he brought with him a vial of milk of the poppy that he'd gotten from the captain. The now dead cow Alynni had dosed dying cow Roslyn and when she'd tried to return it to Lancel he'd told her to keep in case they needed it during the night. She'd placed the vial in her pack which still rested next to her cot.

Opening the pack she found the vial and removed it. Looking at it, she pondered how much to give her to knock her out past the point of struggling but not make it look by what was left in the vial that she'd been purposely overdosed. I'll tell him that Alynni insisted I take a dose to get some sleep. When I awoke Alynni wasn't here, and poor Roslyn had passed at some point while I slept. She would then make the assumption that Alynni had gone on deck for some air, had gotten sick and fallen over board in the rough seas. She grinned and removed the stopper from the vial as she walked to Roslyn.

She measured out the drops directly onto Roslyn's tongue and waited several minutes for it to take affect. Listening to her breathing grow more shallow she picked up and placed a pillow over her face then grinned, turned around and sat down on top of the pillow. "Kiss my ass", she hissed as the woman's body jerked weakly beneath her.

She waited a few moments after she was still before standing and removing the pillow. She checked for breathing and a heartbeat and found neither. Reaching out and gently closing the dead cow's eyes and mouth, she giggled. "The cow says moo, unless its dead of course." She replaced the vial back in Cow Alynni's pack. "The smell in here is atrocious, but I can live with it one more night", she whispered as she laid down and fell asleep next to the corpse of the second woman she'd killed that night.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Arya

He was her eleventh assignment and would be her eleventh kill as she progressed through her apprenticeship as a Faceless Man. She had killed others before coming to Braavos, and one here that the Kindly Man knew nothing of. He had been a deserter from the Night's Watch. Her present assignment was an extortionist, demanding money from the shopkeepers and business owners who tried to make an honest living near the Ragman's Harbor. He was backed up by paid sellswords that swaggered through the city as if they owned it. Those shopkeepers that paid quickly found that the next time he sent his men to collect they demanded an even larger amount, those that didn't were beaten bloody, and driven out of business. He would then buy the empty shops and set up business for himself, he owned nine and was busy working on getting the rest.

She didn't wonder or worry if the extortionist had a family or if anyone would miss him. To her he was just another assignment, someone she'd been told to kill. She'd watched him for two days learning where he would be and when he would be there. At sundown he would return to his home where he lived alone, his sellswords staying at one of the shops he'd taken over close to the Cattery brothel. He'd eat, drink and then limp up the stairs on his nearly crippled leg to his bed chamber. His death from falling down those stairs would look like an accident, had to look like an accident Izenbaro told her. So she waited at the top of the stairs in the dark for him inside the body of a red and white stripped cat she'd named Jaqen.

Her body lay hidden in the shadows on the roof of a shop two streets over. Empty because it was one of the shops he had taken over and not yet reopened. As many times as she had found herself inside the mind and body of Nymeria or one cat or another it always surprised her. It was a strange thing to look at the world through the eyes of an animal who's way of seeing was so different from her own. Colors would fade and wash out while clarity and focus sharpened. She saw the world and everything in it in a whole new way. Her hearing was also enhanced, while inside Jaqen one night she'd been able to hear the stirring of a mouse, something she would never have heard with her own ears. Her sense of smell was just as heightened as her sight and hearing.

She heard the sound of the door opening, uneven footsteps coming through it and her cat body tensed at the top of the stairs. She listened as he moved around the room below her, lighting candles, then heard the sound of something being poured into a glass. He must have already eaten or wasn't hungry because he started the painful climb up the stairs. Her muscles tensed as she crouched lower, ready to spring.

When he was three steps from the top where she hid in the darkness she jumped up and out hitting him hard as she could in the chest, uttering a loud yowl as she did. The force of the hit knock her back onto the landing as he lost his balance and toppled over backwards trying desperately to grab hold of the bannister. When it looked like he would succeed she jumped onto the bannister and sank her fangs into his hand. It came as a complete surprise to her when she felt his other hand grab Jaqen's body and they both tumbled over and over down the stairs.

"Jaqen", she yelled as she opened her eyes and got to her feet. She half jumped, half fell from the roof and started running to the house two streets away. She past no one as she dashed through the streets and alleys hoping that the poor cat had not died in the fall. When the house came into view she slowed to a walk clinging to the shadows until she reached the house and found a window she could peer through. Laying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs was the man she had just killed and sitting on his chest was a red and white stripped cat licking his paw. "It's a good thing cats have nine lives".

"_Valar morghulis"_ she whispered.

"It's done", she told Izenbaro when she returned to the House of Black and White. "Was it an accident?", he inquired. "He took a tumble down the stairs", she replied feeding bits of dried meat to Jaqen. "_Valar morghulis", _he nodded. _"Valar dohaeris", _she mumbled back around a mouth full of Joqen's dinner. "A girl apprentice should eat then find her room and bed, and take her cat with her", he grinned. "A girl apprentice will do just that", she smiled scooping up Jaqen and heading for the door.

"Will there be a new assignment tomorrow Izenbaro"? "If it's the will of the Many-Faced God there will be, if not I'll find something else to keep a girl apprentice busy." She nodded and went to find something better to eat than dried meat.

A little over an hour later as she lay on the small bed in the room she thought of as hers looking up at the ceiling she whispered, "Ilyn, Meryn, Cersei, Dunsen, Raff The Sweatling". The rest of the names that had once joined these others were dead. Word of Joffery's death had reached the Ragman's Harbor by way of the ships that sailed to Braavos from Westeros, as had Ser Gregor's. Both had been poisoned if what she'd heard was true, and she didn't know if she was happy or angry, happy that they were dead or angry that she hadn't killed them herself. She felt cheated.

There was one other name on the list that she had removed, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane. She had left him to die wounded and sick by the side of the road. Was he in fact dead? Had he survived? This was something else she had mixed feelings about. He had taken the life of Mycah but had saved hers. She didn't like him but if he were alive she really no longer wanted him dead. She'd decided to remove his name from the list, if he lived and she ever ran into him again she'd decide what to do then.

As she drifted off to sleep it wasn't the faces of those she hated and wanted dead that she saw in her mind but the faces of those that she loved and had lost, she whispered their names. "Eddard Stark, Catlyn Stark, Rob Stark, Bran Stark, Rikkon Stark, Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Gendry, Hot Pie, Jaqen, Lady, Nymeria, Grey Wind, Summer, Shaggy Dog. Some on this list she knew were dead, some she feared dead and some she knew were very much alive. She mourned their absence from her life as if they all were dead.

When she woke she had no idea what time it was, her tiny room had no widows, but judging by how she felt she'd been asleep for hours. Shifting Jaqen the cat around on the bed she rose then made her way over to the wash basin by the light of the small brazier that heated her room. After lighting a candle she poured water into the basin, washed her face, ran her fingers through her hair to smooth it then dressed in the black and white robe of an apprentice. "Come on Jaqen, lets go find breakfast and Izembaro", she told him leading the way through the door.

"A girl apprentice sleeps in late", Izenbaro smiled when she found him after breakfast. "A girl apprentice was up late", she smiled back. "That's why the apprentice has been given the day off", he nodded. She groaned, she hated days off as he called them. "She may spend it as she chooses", he continued. "Any way?", she asked. He nodded. "Then I'd like to be another and walk around the city". "If that is your wish then you may do so but only if you can do so without help". "I can", she assured him, hoping she could.

At her age, not yet eleven, with her undeveloped feminine attributes, she could with the right clothes pass as a boy. She decided as she made her way down to the lowest level of the House of Black and White that she would be one today. She wasn't sure which she found stranger, looking at the faces that decorated the walls down here, actually putting one on or seeing the memories of the people who's faces these had been.

While the face could be male or female it did have to be of a like age with herself. There were, unfortunately for the previous owners, many to choose from that were the right age. She wandered for a bit studying the faces of the hapless children who had been brought here to die until she found one she thought would do quite well. Reaching up she removed a boy's face within a year or two of her own age who had at some point in his life been afflicted with greyscale.

Most of the face was thick, hard, scaly and grayish white, sure signs of greyscale. It covered both cheeks, forehead and nose leaving only his chin free of scars, not even his eyelids had escaped. He'd had the look of a lizard or snake. "Lizard Boy", she thought as she took the face over to a stone table and picked up a small ivory handled knife.

Drawing the knife across her finger she mumbled the words she'd learned to say from the Waif. Running her finger around the outer edge, the eyes and lips and across the forehead of the inside of the face she took a deep breathe and pressed it to her own. Her skin crawled a little as she felt the dead boys face bind to her own as she smoothed out wrinkles and made sure the bond around eyes, nose and mouth were snug. Glancing into a mirror she couldn't help shivering slightly at what she saw reflected back, a human body with a lizard's face. "No wonder you wanted to die", she whispered to the boy who's face this had been, long dead now and forgotten.

There was a chamber, one of many down here, that held all sorts and sizes of clothes, from beggars rags to beautiful gowns, and it was to this chamber the Lizard Boy made his way to now. She'd learned that no one really paid attention to beggars and cripples and those who bore evidence of greyscale were avoided at all cost, people being afraid of the disease and those that had suffered it's ravages. Fear of contagion kept them at bey, she'd be able to get close enough to hear but still be ignored, making it easy to blend in to the surroundings. No one would look to closely or get to close to Lizard Boy.

No sooner had she thought it she saw his memories of being shunned and avoided. Memories of other children and adults throwing rocks and worse at him, harsh and hateful words uttered by people that didn't care about the pain they inflicted worse than the rocks when they struck him. She hated those people and the words they'd said as much as he had. Then she was struck by a strange thought. "Did what happen to this boy happen to The Hound? No wonder he was so full of hate".

When she left the chamber she wore once fine clothes that were now dirty, torn and thread bare. Over the clothes she wore a tattered, stained cloak with the hood pulled up in an attempted to hide her scarred face. In this life she'd decided he'd be a child of noble birth who had been sickened with greyscale then turned out of his home by wealthy parents who'd been to ashamed and embarrassed by a son that looked like a lizard. The boy who's face she wore would get around to showing her the truth of his life through his memories eventually.

As she looked again into the mirror she thought she looked very boy like then went to great pains mussing up her hair, applying dirt to it her face and hands from a large barrel that stood next to the wall for just this reason. "How do I look?", she asked Jaqen. For answer he stopped cleaning his paw, looked at her with his big yellow eyes, meowed once then went back to cleaning. "You're a lot of help", she mumbled as they made their way back upstairs.

She left the robe she been wearing in her room then hurried to the "pool chamber" as she thought of it to put her disguise to the test. Waiting in the shadows until no one was around she told Jaqen to stay put then crept out of hiding making her way silently to the pool. She didn't have to wait long before someone noticed the small, dirty, hunched over boy standing next to the pool. "Crap", she muttered when she saw the Kindly Man making his way across the chamber towards her. "I'll never fool him, might as well be Izenbaro or the Waif", who she knew would have been just as hard to fool. "I'll see how long it takes him to figure it out", she decided just before he reached her side.

"How is it that The Many-Faced God can help you child?", he whispered. For answer she turned to face him keeping her eyes down cast saying nothing. "Lizard Boy just became a mute", she thought, knowing the Kindly Man would surely recognize her voice no matter how well she tried to disguise it.

"Oh, I see child. Have the scars upon your face and the reaction to them by the people you meet become to much to bear"? She nodded vigorously.

"So much so that you seek death in the House of Black and White?". She nodded once more as she started to cry, something she had gotten very good at doing when she wanted or needed to. "Are you sure child? Things change and tomorrow is another day". She nodded again as vigorously as before. "Does he really not know who I am or is he just playing along", she wondered as he filled a cup from the pool and led her over to one of the niches in the wall.

"Lay here child", he said helping her onto the stone bed and pressing the cup into her hand. "Let the Many-Faced God easy your sufferings". As she lifted the cup towards her lips she paused, looked up at him smiling and said "it's me" convinced she'd fooled him. "I know, I passed your cat on my way into the chamber", he grinned. "Jaqen!", she yelled.

"If you hadn't seen him would you have known it was me?", she asked as she returned the contents of the cup to the pool. "The disguise is very good apprentice, perhaps I wouldn't have recognized you had I not seen the cat. We'll never know. The lesson here is to not be associated with anything or anyone outside of these walls. Your life may depend on it one day. It's the subtle things we do, the way we walk, the words we use, our mannerisms, that give our true identity away. There is more to it that changing the look of your face and the clothes you wear. You must become who you appear to be, leaving who you truly are behind".

"I thought I was doing that", she replied. "You do to some degree and you do well up to a point but you need more practice to truly master the art of deception and lies. You will grow and learn child, just take it slowly, one day, one step at a time. That is what apprenticeship is all about, learning to be a master".

"I can't take it slowly, there are people I need to kill before someone else beats me to it. I've already lost two, I wont loose another", she thought but dared not say. The people she wanted to kill were the enemies of Arya Stark, a girl she no longer was or so The Kindly Man believed.

"Where are you off to?", he asked her. "Into the city", she replied. "Good, an excellent opportunity to practice, make the most of it. Remember when you leave here you are no longer the girl apprentice, you are a long suffering and much abused boy who's face is scarred by sickness and has no cat", he smiled. "I'll remember", she smiled back. "Could you let him out after I've gone?", she asked nodding at Jaqen. "I will", he promised as she walked to the door and the city that waited beyond it.

She wandered the city of Braavos for hours as Lizard Boy while he showed her glimpses of his life. She began to incorporate what she saw into how she behaved and reacted to the people on the streets that she passed. His memories became her teacher in all things dark and hateful. She coward and cringed the way he had and several times fought with other beggar children over scraps of food and rags, always loosing in the end. The House of Black and White kept her well fed and clothed, she wouldn't deprive those who were truly in need.

Where ever she wandered the talk was about how the extortionist had met his end at the bottom of the stairs in his house. Surely a well deserved accident. They were relieved but they still worried about his sellswords who had taken over the extortion busy from their late boss. Two shop owners had been beaten so far today and the rest were afraid their turn was coming. "Good, another assignment for me", she thought hiding the smile on her face.

Talk of the extortionist wasn't the only thing on the minds and lips of the people she saw and overheard. Pirates were raiding all along the coasts of both Essos and Westeros, and any ship out on the water was fair game. Not even the fisherman who plied the waters around Braavos were safe, three boats were long overdue and the wreckage of two more had been found not far off the coast. Fat merchants were screaming the loudest of course but the shop owners were afraid that if the pirates weren't dealt with soon they'd have nothing to sell that wasn't produced locally. "Dangerous times for everyone" and "Thank the Gods we have the Titan to protect us" where the statements she heard repeated again and again.

It was near sundown and she was getting hungry so she decided to return to the House of Black and White by going the long way around so she could pass by the Cattery on the way. She'd learned that the whores that clustered around outside enticing patrons in were a wealth of interesting information. No one liked to talk more than a bored whore unless it was the men that stood around with them outside the Cattery begging for free rides. She set off in that direction shuffling, cringing and cowering as the Lizard Boy had taught her.

When she arrived at the Cattery she found a spot in an alley close enough to the front door and the whores who were gathered there and hunkered down in the shadows to listen. She was a bit surprised to see how many there were outside this evening and as she listened she learned why. "I can't believe they had the nerve to swagger in here and demand a percentage of the profits as good as I know we've all been to them", one scantily clad whore with flaming red hair said. "They did the same at the Happy Port", another timid looking whore whispered while looking over her shoulder. "We already give two-thirds of what we make to the house what do you want to bet that we'll have to hand over the rest to pay them bastard sellswords?", Red said.

"I'll work the streets before I do that", a blonde whore spoke up receiving nods of agreement from all the others. "You'll end up with your throat cut you do that", a rather fat whore with a mole above her right eye snapped. "What's the difference between starving to death and getting your throat cut Fat Alys?", Timid whispered. "Starving ain't something you got to worry about Alys, you girls do what you want but I'm not going back to work until them sellswords are dealt with", Blondie proclaimed. "Well now's your chance to tell em cause here they come", Red said nodding at the three men walking towards the Cattery.

Lizard Boy shifted deeper into the shadows as the three sellswords converged on the whores. "You girls need to get inside and make us some money", one drunken brute said to no one in particular. "We ain't working for the likes of you. You're nothing more than common thugs", Blondie hissed. All three men laughed. "Is that so?", the drunk slurred. Blondie nodded placing her hands on her hips. "Why don't you bastards crawl back into the pile of shit you crawled out of?", she snapped. "Crazy whore has a death wish", Lizard Boy thought from his place of concealment.

The sellswords stopped laughing. Even drunk the brute was fast, one moment he was standing perfectly still the next moment his sword slid through Blondie's stomach and out her back. The other whores erupted into screams running off in all directions. Two of them, Red and Timid, sped past Lizard Boy where he hid and deeper into the alley. "Oh crap", Lizard Boy thought as one of the sellswords took off down the alley giving chase, the other two sellswords running in different directions after the remaining rebellious whores.

The girl who was Lizard Boy knew she should start running and keep running all the way back to the House of Black and White but instead she grabbed the long wicked knife she carried concealed under her cloak and dashed down the alley following the sellsword. She new the alley ended in a dead end not to much farther down.

Lizard Boy heard the screams and cries of terror the two whores were making before he saw them pressed back against the wall of the building that blocked their escape, sellsword slowly advancing on them with sword drawn. He waited until the sellsword sheathed his sword and starting striking the women with his fist before he made his move. Quiet as a cat he crept up behind the loudly ranting man and drove the knife up between his legs, twisted it as hard as she could then pulled it back out. Screaming the sellsword went to his knees grabbing his crotch with both hands as Lizard Boy reached around and slit his throat. He let out one gurgling wheeze and fell over dead. Looking up at the surprised whores, hood fallen back away from his face revealing his lizard like appearance, he grinned and said "run" as he took off back up the alley.

He stopped as he neared the mouth of the alley letting the whores catch up and pass him while he waited and listened. As soon as they exited the alley he heard the two remaining sellswords, who where back at the Cattery after rounding up the whores they had been chasing, curse loudly as one took off in pursuit of the two fleeing whores.

Gripping the knife tightly in his left hand Lizard Boy ran full tilt out of the alley and straight towards the sellsword still standing in front of the Cattery, his attention was on his companion running down the street. As Lizard Boy sped past the sellsword he drove his knife up into the mans chest pulled it free and kept running not missing a stride. Glancing over his shoulder for the briefest of seconds he saw the man fall and the whores around him start kicking and stomping him. "Two down, one to go", the girl who was the Lizard Boy thought.

Running down the street as fast as he could he was almost on top of the third sellsword before he realized it. He had to dive behind a stack of crates to not be seen as moments later the man came around a building dragging a whore along in each hand. Lizard Boy held his breath as the sellsword and the two struggling whores approached his hiding spot afraid that his ragged breathing would give him away. It didn't. He sprang out from behind the crates driving his knife into the right side of the man's stomach. Jerking the knife free he buried it deeply into his chest with both hands, so deeply that when the man toppled over backward Lizard Boy went with him landing on top of the dying man. Laying there nose to nose, hands still wrapped tightly around the knife handle, Lizard Boy watched as the life drained from the sellswords eyes.

With a disgusted grunt he let go of the knife, rolled off the dead man onto his back and laid right there in the street looking up at the stars. Finally looking over at the two whores he'd saved twice in less than half an hour he said, "say nothing about me to anyone. You never saw my face. All you know is that someone helped you when you needed help". Red nodded grabbed Timid by the arm and ran back towards the Cattery neither saying so much as "thank you Lizard Boy".

The not yet eleven year old girl apprentice who was Lizard Boy climbed to her feet reached down and yanked her knife from the chest of the man she'd killed.

"_Valar Morghulis",_ she whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

Cersei II

The _High Hope_ was two days from it's destination of Braavos hugging the coast hoping to avoid pirates. They'd been lucky so far and Captain Myles Davenport, his crew and their passengers had high hopes their luck would hold. There had been a rash of deaths among the passengers on the _High Hope_ all accidental, or so they seemed.

Two of the three septas on board had died from the sickness brought on by the ever rolling sea. One in her bed from dehydration the other fell overboard while leaning over the rail to retch or so Captain Myles concluded. Why she had been on deck in the middle of the night as sick as she had been none could surmise.

The remaining septa had been asleep in her bed unaware that her sister had left their cabin. When she woke she found herself sleeping next to the body of one sister who had passed in her sleep with no idea where the other was. She had become hysterical not calming until she had been dosed with milk of the poppy.

Of the five Warrior's Sons who accompanied the septas as escorts only three remained. A freak accident had taken the life of the first man when the knot on a rope attached to a large pulley used to raise and lower cargo had come loose allowing the pulley to swing free. It swung across the deck propelled by strong gusty winds and slammed into his face knocking him backwards over the rail. By the time Captain Myles got the ship stopped and men in the water to retrieve him he was dead.

The second fell backwards down the steep stairs leading below deck after a night spent with several of the crew drinking rum. All agreed he'd been drunk when he left them believing he was going to his cabin. Apparently he'd changed his mind for some reason and decided to go on deck. He had made it up to the door when he lost his balance, from drunkenness or the rolling ship, then had fallen backwards breaking his neck during the fall. After his death the crew, as superstitious a lot as any who sail the sea, began to mutter about women being on board. Captain Myles had threatened them into silence and since then no one else had died. He would admit it to no one but he was starting to feel a little superstitious about women himself.

The object of their superstitious fear stood now at the rail of the ship watching as the hazy blue line in the distance that was the shore of Essos pass rapidly by, far to rapidly for her. "Time. I need more time", she thought though she knew she wasn't likely to get it. Only Lancel and the last two of his men stood in her way to freedom and she was running out of "accident" ideas. Stuck like a rat on this ship and running out of time was making her desperate. Desperation would cause her to make a mistake, something she couldn't afford to do.

Lancel watched her closely wanting to believe the things she said but doubtful. "He knows me to well", she thought as she continued watching the shore line. He and his men sat on the deck, not far from where she stood, enjoying the clear sky, the bright sun and the gentle wind that blew them ever closer to Braavos. All seasickness had left them and they were the very picture of health, piety and sobriety, perfect little Warrior's Sons but so very dangerous to her and her plans. "Damn them all to the Stranger", she thought angrily gripping the rail so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"Almost there", Lancel said sliding up next to her at the rail. "I hope so Lancel, this has been a very sad trip", she replied. " I hope you're not still blaming yourself for Septa Alynni and Septa Roslyn's deaths Cersei". "If only I hadn't agreed to let Septa Alynni dose me with milk of the poppy so I could sleep they may both still be alive. I feel so guilty Lancel", she whimpered starting to cry. "Nonsense Cersei. Septa Roslyn was near death the last time I checked on her and how were you to know that Septa Alynni would go up on deck in the middle of the night".

"It's not just them Lancel it's your men as well". "Surely you're not blaming yourself for their deaths Cersei?" "Not directly" she said and hesitated for the briefest of moments, "it's almost like no matter where I go death follows me", she whispered. He looked shocked. "Cersei both of their deaths were accidents. We where all on the deck when the rope gave way and Anson was struck in the face and knocked overboard. Fallon's death was because of his own love of strong drink. You had nothing to do with either man's death".

"Would you say that if you knew it was me that loosened the knot the night before hoping that when it gave way you would be the one killed or that it was me that stood just outside the door waiting on that drunk fool to make it to the top of the stairs so I could push him when he got there? Would you stand here comforting me if you knew I cut the throat of one cow and smothered the other? You are truly a fool you lip-less little weasel", she thought.

"I know what you're saying is true Lancel but I still feel so badly about it". "You need to stop feeling that way Cersei, you had nothing to do with their deaths". "So you think", she thought. "Thank you Lancel. I'll try to put it behind me and do as you say", she smiled through her tears. "Do that", the fool smiled patting her gently on the back. "Now, come have a bite to eat with us and enjoy this beautiful day", he said taking he by the arm and leading her towards his remaining men. What could she do but smile and follow?

She sat among Lancel and his two remaining men, Sy Rivers and Donal Storm, nibbling at the food on her plate while pretending to be interested in what they were saying. From time to time she would smile, nod or make a comment all the while trying to figure out the best way to kill them. Lancel was a runt, he'd be no problem. The other two were big men, not Sandor Clegane big, but bigger than she could handle if her attempt to kill them didn't succeed on the first try. There would be no second attempted if the first one went awry, of that she had no doubt.

She remained with them after the meal watching Sy and Lancel play _cyvasse_ while Donal sharpened his sword. "Lord of Death", she prayed, "give me the strength to take their lives and help me get off this ship without anyone ever knowing I did". Her father had told her long ago that if the Gods existed they paid no heed to mortal men and women but lately she had found herself praying again and again to the Stranger. "I hope you're listening to me vain and petty god. If not you can kiss my ass".

"Ship off the starboard side captain", a sailor cried loudly. "Where in the Seven Hells did she come from?", Captain Myles called back as everyone stood up and looked. "Must have been hiding behind that little island out there captain", another sailor shouted. Captain Myles was looking at the ship through his glass, what he saw didn't please him. He started shouting orders and the crew raced around the deck doing as he said. "Captain Myles is it a pirate ship?", Lancel yelled. "I'm afraid it is", he yelled back. "Will they catch us?" "Looks like they will but I'll give them a run before they do, sister best you go below", the captain nodded to her. She didn't want to go below but one look at Lancel told her she'd get an argument from him if she didn't.

"Pirates, just what I needed. This could be a good thing if I survive the attack and don't end up in the slave market", she thought as she paced back and forth in her cramped cabin listening to the shouts of the men still on deck. "Hopefully they'll manage to kill Lancel, Sy and Donal and I'll figure out someway to escape". There was no place to hide on this ship where they wouldn't find her when they boarded, her only escape was the sea itself. If she could get to the coast she would be free. "Getting there is the problem", she muttered aloud. Lancel himself gave her the answer she need moments later when he burst through the cabin door.

"Get your things Cersei, we're getting in the lifeboat". As she began stuffing what little she had into a pack he ran from the room without another word. He was back in moments with a water skin and a sack of food, "lets go he said grabbing her by the arm, dragging her through the door to the stairs. Once on deck they ran to the port side of the ship where Sy and Donal helped three of the crew lower the small wooden boat over the side. She glanced over her shoulder as Lancel tossed her pack in the boat and helped her in and saw that the much faster pirate ship had managed to half the distance between them and the High Hope. The crew members that were helping them noticed the same thing and they ran off to see to the defense of their ship leaving no one to lower the boat but Lancel and his men.

"We'll lower the boat Cersei just hang on, once it's down we'll jump overboard and join you". She nodded and saw over his shoulder a bright flash come from the pirate ship followed by a loud boom. "A near miss by a cannon", she thought just as her head disappeared below the rail. Then she heard a second loud boom.

The lifeboat was halfway to the water by then and as she looked up she watched in fascination as the part of the ship where Lancel and his men stood lowering the boat explode out in a rain of debris and bodies. The little boat gave a shutter falling the rest of the way to the water, the jarring impact knocking her out.

She'd grown up near the sea, she and Jaime and had spent hours playing along the beach, swimming and sailing but all the same it was a shock to find herself struggling to the surface to take a breath while the damn wool robe she wore tried its best to pull her back under. She stayed calm. Reaching under the robe to the knife that was still strapped to her thigh, thank the Stranger, she began hacking the robe away from her legs, once free she was able to reach the surface and take the breath she so badly needed.

The High Hope was a good distance away still moving but listing badly to port obviously taking on a great deal of water, the pirate ship now easily closing in on its prey. She was surrounded by wood planks and other debris but saw no sign of another living person. Spying the lifeboat the struck out swimming towards it, on the way she passed by the bodies of both Sy and Donal but no sign of Lancel. If he were also dead that meant she was free. The thought made her smile and swim even harder to reach the lifeboat.

She made it finally thanking all the gods that the sea was calm. Tossing her knife in then grabbing hold of the boat it took her three tries to pull herself up and over the side where she tumbled into the tiny boat totally exhausted. She could hear voices in the distance yelling and screaming and risked rising up enough to peer out. The pirate ship had over taken High Hope and had set it on fire or at least the parts of it that weren't under water, the screams and cries she heard were coming from her captain and crew.

"Time to move your ass Cersei in case they come back this way". She sat up and spun around to take stock of what she had in the boat with her. Both her pack, the water skin and sack of food Lancel had taken were still in the boat plus an extra pair of oars. Sitting on the middle bench she swung the two already attached to the sides of the boat out and just as she was about to lower then into the water and start rowing she heard a thump against the side of the boat, a splash and then saw two hands come up and grab hold of the side. "What the fuck?", she muttered.

"Cersei! I'm hurt! Help me! "Lancel", she thought. Snatching up one of the oars from the floor of the boat she walked to where she could see his hands and stood over him. "Help me", he said turning loose of the boat with one hand and reaching out to her. There were so many things she wanted to say to him in that moment as she stared down at him grinning but she said nothing simply raised the oar and brought it down on his head, one...two...three times.

He looked surprised when the first blow glanced off the side of his head opening a deep gash that spewed blood up like a fountain. When he saw the second blow descending he tried to protect his head with the arm he had held out to her and she laughed out loud when she heard the sound the bone in it made when it snapped. The third blow cleaved his skull in two down to his chin sending bones, brains and gore flying breaking the oar in two as well.

"Don't worry Lancel, I have other oars", she laughed manically as she tossed the handle of the broken one into the water next to his body. "I have to go now. I need to make it to Braavos and start my new life. I have plans to make and people to kill", she said still laughing as she rolled his corpse over in the water and removed his money pouch, sword and dagger.

Rowing a boat on the open sea was hard work. When her hands formed blisters she kept rowing. When the blisters broke open and leaked watery blood she paused only long enough to cut scraps of cloth from her already tattered robe to wrap around them and kept rowing. When she sun threatened to burn her brains out she pulled up the cowl of her robe to cover her head and kept rowing. When her arms, shoulders and back screamed in agony she kept rowing.

During one of her water breaks just before sundown she noticed hinges on the top of the front bench. Prying it open she found a water proof sack, inside was another full water skin, dried meat and fruit, what she thought was a tarp at first then realized it was meant to be used as a sail which would explain the two long thin poles attached to the inside wall of the boat and also the hole in the top of the bench she had sat on to row. There was a coil of thin rope to attach the sail to the pole and wonder of wonders an oil lamp full of oil, a flint and steel, extra wick and a compass.

She started to laugh. "You idiot, all the rowing, all these blisters, and all you had to do was hoist the sail". Still laughing she did just that though it took some time to figure out. She finished just before the sun sank out of sight behind her and laughed again as the light night breeze filled the sail and it started pulling the little boat in the direction of the shore still some distance away but closer than it had been when she started.

The Stranger had answered her prayers. "Thank you God of Death", she whispered. "Everyone on board the High Hope is dead except me and the world will think I'm dead as well. No one in Braavos knows me. I'll find a place to lay low and make my plans. I'll need more money of course but I'm resourceful. If I have to whore myself to get my revenge then so be it. I've slept with men I've hated all my life. I'll use them while they think they're using me and if someone finds them robbed, dead and laying in the gutter, oh well".

She tied off the sail so she continued on towards the east, lit the lamp, then settled down to eat a well earned meal of dried meat and fruit. She wasn't sure how long it would take to reach the shore and until she did she'd ration out the food and water.

To say that it was quiet would have been a major understatement of the facts. Not only was it quiet it was pitch dark once she blew out the lamp. The sky was clear and as she sailed along in the emptiness she gazed up at cold and distant stars. She was totally at peace with herself, everything she'd done, where she was and where she was going. She dozed off and on through out the night and was pleased to find when the sun came up that she was still on course and very much closer to the shore, she'd be there in hours if the wind held. It did and hours later she was sailing north just off the coast.

When the giant Titan that guarded Braavos came into view she removed a clean blue robe that had belonged to Cow Alynni from her pack cut three inches from the hem and the cowl from the neck hoping to make it look more like a dress and less like a septa's robe. Removing her tattered robe she washed the sweat from her body, put the clean robe on and belted it around her waist with Lancel's belt.

She tied his dagger to her left forearm under the sleeve then tied the knife that had served her so well to her right forearm. She wrapped his sword in the tattered remains of her robe thinking to sell it as soon as she could to whoever would buy it along with the boat. The pouch of gold and silver coins she tied to her belt then tucked behind it out of sight.

As she sailed between the Titan's legs she joined up with several small fishing boats the same size as hers and followed along with them going where they went. They led her to large wharf in what a sign in the common language said was the Ragman's Harbor. She tied the boat up next to the very last dock well away from all the other boats and sat quietly for a moment. "I made it", she muttered aloud shaking with relief. "I'm alive and I'm free".

The boat she sold to a fisherman for half of what she thought it was worth. Lancel's sword was sold to a shopkeeper not far from the docks for again half of what she thought it was worth. When it was done she added the few coins she'd gotten for both to the pouch at her waist then slung her pack filled with what remained of her food and one water skin across her shoulders and set out to explore the city of Braavos.

The city was built on hundreds of islands linked together by stone bridges, covered in domes and towers in gray, gold and red. "It's huge, makes King's Landing looked like a simple village", she thought as she walked along taking in the sights. The people she passed where from all over the world and she had an easy time blending in where ever she ventured. At one point she found herself near the center of the city close to the "Isle of Gods" which held the temples and houses of every religion that existed.

She saw the Sept Beyond the Sea, her intended prison, and laughed out loud as she walked towards it. "I'd go in and piss on the high altar if I could get away with it", she thought with a wicked smile. Instead she walked in and made her way to the statue of the Strange where she lit a candle, offered up her thanks and dropped a few of her precious copper coins into a wooden bowl that collected such offerings.

Back outside she continued wandering until she found herself looking at a huge building on a rocky knoll. Steep stone stairs led up to huge wooden doors, one black the other white upon them was carved a moon face. "What place is this?", she thought feeling a deep compulsion to walk up the stairs and into the building. Heeding the pull of whatever force it was that called to her she started up the stairs.

Once at the top she paused for several moments and looked closer at the doors. One was made of weirwood the other of ebony the moon face was white on black, black on white. Pushing the doors open she went inside.

The large chamber she found herself in was dimly lit by torches and braziers. In the center was a large round pool perhaps ten feet across surrounded by statues of gods she didn't recognize until she spied one that was familiar and to whom she owed so much. "Is it you that calls me here?", she whispered up at the silently staring statue of the Stranger. "Can I help you child?", a man's voice whispered behind her.

She whirled around, hand darting under her sleeve, to see who had walked up on her so quietly and startled her. The voice had come from an old man dressed in a black and white robe. He smiled at her, "I'm sorry if I startled you". She smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry for not hearing you approach, I was looking at the statues lost in thought. What is this place?" "This is the House of Black and White. The house of the Many-Faced God. How can I be of service?", he asked gently.

"House of Black and White, Many-Faced God", these things sounded familiar to her and she struggled to remember why. "Faceless Man", she thought with a startled gasp. "This is home to them and the god they serve, a god called by many names with many faces, the God of Death", she thought while looking at the old man who waited for her to answer his question. She swallowed before answering, "I don't really know why I'm here, it's almost as if someone led me here. I've only just arrived in Braavos today and was wandering the city when I ended up here".

"I see, so you haven't come here for the gift", he smiled. "The gift", she repeated. "The gift of death of course", he nodded. "Gods no, not for myself at least", she laughed. "It's not wise to laugh at death child especially when you stand in his house", he whispered quietly and oh so seriously. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing again. "I'm sorry for laughing but you see I have struggled so hard to stay alive of late that the thought that I would have come here seeking my own death after surviving so much, after doing so much to make sure I would, shocked me to the point of laughter".

He looked at her for a long time before saying anything. "Who is it that you feel you owe your survival to child"? For answer she turned from him and glanced up at the statue of the Stranger. "When I was desperate and lost he showed me the way. He helped me remove those that stood in my path. He showed me how to deal with those that didn't want me to survive, who wanted me locked away or dead. Perhaps he brought me here to show me that he's still here watching out for me".

He looked at her again for a long time. Why did she feel as if he could see into her soul, as if he knew everything that she had done, everything she planned to do? When the silence had dragged out far beyond the point of uncomfortable he finally spoke. "The God of Death is like a double-edged sword child. Sometimes he gives, sometimes he takes. He takes us all in the end regardless of the favors he bestows on us throughout our lives. What he gives today he can take away tomorrow. You'd do well to remember that". Without another word he walked across the vast chamber and disappeared through a doorway. "Not me you old fool, he loves me", she whispered. Taking one last look up at the Stranger she blew him a kiss and left.

Back in the Ragman's Harbor she found herself tired and hungry. The thought of spending any of her coins for a room in an inn and a hot meal made her cringe so she found a crate to sit on just inside an alley. Dining on the dried meat and fruit in her pack, washing it down with water from her water skin that she had refilled from one of the many fountains she'd passed, she watched as men entered and exited the building next to where she sat.

"The Cattery" a sign in front said. A brothel she had no doubt. The men who visited it all seemed to be merchants, shop owners, businessmen, or nobles of some sort. Fat, wealthy, dressed in fine clothes, riding fine horses or stepping from fine carriages. None appeared to be common men, dirty or of small means. The place itself was large and she could see through the windows it was brightly lit and inviting. As brothels go it was one of the better ones she decided. "It's a place to sleep. Somewhere I'll have food to eat and be able to make some money while I work on my plan. As far as the work itself goes, I've done worse. Nothing could be as bad as getting fucked by that drunk pig Robert".

Finished with her meal she slung her pack on her shoulders then wandered deeper into the alley. She wasn't going to take her money pouch inside for fear that one of the whores within would steal it if they saw her with it. Going to the very end of the alley she found that it came to a dead end. Someone had recently lost their life here judging by the blood stained cobblestones at her feet. Taking a look back over her shoulder to be sure no one was watching she knelt down to find a stone she could pry loose. Her third try was successful, flipping the stone over she dug a shallow hole with her knife, placed the pouch which held every coin she had and the dagger she'd taken from Lancel into the hole covered it up and replaced the cobblestone. She committed the shape of the stone and its exact location to memory then wandered back up the alley.

She pushed open the door of The Cattery brothel walked in and shut it behind her. The room she stood in was richly furnished, brightly lit and several whores lounged around looking bored. They looked at her and she at them. "Look ladies, someone left the door open and a bird flew in", a fat whore with a mole pointed. "An old crow from the looks of her", a red-haired whore laughed. They were all younger and thinner than she was. All where dressed in bright flowing silks which left the most desired of there attributes exposed for potential customers to see. They were made up and perfumed, hair clean and braid or artfully arranged on their heads. Her self confidence slipped a notch as she thought about how she must look. She was almost shaken enough to leave without a word, run back down the alley, collect her things and come up with a different plan.

"I'm the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. I run from no one least of all a bunch of cheap whores", she reminded herself as she squared her shoulders, drew herself up and looked back at them. "I'll speak to the person in charge", she snapped. That caused them to blink and take a second look. "Are you buying or selling?" the red-haired whore asked her with a suggestive grin. "Selling", she replied without pause. "In that case you'll be wanting to talk to Mylon Parrish, he owns the place and does the hiring. Though who he'd sell you to is beyond me, she laughed. "Then it's a good thing you don't have to figure that out, she said smiling sweetly at the whore. "What's your name?", the whore asked. "Sansa. My name is Sansa", she replied and smiled again.


	4. Chapter 4

Arya II

It had been three days since a lizard-face boy killed three sellswords in the streets and alleys around the Cattery brothel. The whole city knew about the deaths of the sellswords but not a word had been mentioned about their attacker. The whores had done as the _boy_ had asked and kept his identity to themselves, from gratitude or fear the girl apprentice Faceless Man who had been the boy didn't know. It was enough that they had kept her secret whatever their reasons.

She was still a little fearful that the Kindly Man, who seemed to know everything that went on in Braavos, would find out. She had stayed out of his sight for the most part keeping to her room or to the lowest floor of the House of Black and White where she learned about poisons from the Waif. There were several rules that an apprentice must obey and the most important according to Izenbaro was "kill no one you are not told to kill". The reason that rule was in place was simple "the streets of Braavos are not your personal hunting ground".

She had broken that rule four times, once before she was an apprentice, and three more times in the space of half an hour. She had known she was breaking it when she'd killed the first sellsword and didn't care, had enjoyed killing all three truth be told. It wasn't until later after she'd returned to her room that she wondered why she had risked everything to save the whores and why she felt no remorse over killing three men who had done nothing to her. The answer was...

Bullies. She hate bullies with a near religious passion. The list of names she recited every night before sleep claimed her was her own personal list of bullies. Everyone on it had bullied her or a family member often to the point of death. She was sick and tired of seeing the weak get hurt by the strong, the rich and the powerful for no better reason than because they could. When she saw the sellswods kill one whore and then frighten,beat and bully the rest something inside of her had snapped. She'd thought "enough".

The bullies on her list had driven her here, far from home and everything and everyone she knew and loved. They made her what she was, a killer. She wasn't going to be anyone's victim again and she wasn't going to stand by and watch others be victimized either. The sellswords and a deserter from the Night's Watch where only the first to pay the price for what the others had done. Their turn to pay would come.

She was upstairs with several of the other apprentices having lunch when the Waif told her that Izenbaro and the Kindly Man wanted to see her. A cold hard knot replaced the hunger in her belly as she walked to Izenbaro's rooms on the second floor. "Come", Izenbaro called out when she knocked on the door. She was greeted by both men when she entered and was surprised to see that they were not alone. Seated in one of the chairs was a woman she'd never seen before.

She was pretty in a plan, natural sort of way. Her face and arms were tanned from time spent out doors. Her hair was a reddish brown pulled back and braided the long tail laying across one shoulder to her waist. Her eyes were a dark blue and regarded her with peace and wisdom. She was dressed in tan suede leather breeches and vest laced up the front and brown leather boots that reached above the knees.

"This is Robyn Nine Fingers apprentice. She will be your teacher and trainer in weapons and fighting", The Kindly Man informed her. "But she's a woman", she blurted out. "Does she always state the obvious?", Robyn Nine Fingers asked with a smile. Both men laughed. "She is indeed a woman apprentice and she is also the finest weapons and fighting master we have. Even I pale in comparison", Izenbaro said. "You alone, of all the apprentices, will be trained by her", the Kindly Man nodded. "Why me?', she couldn't help asking. "Because I am a woman and one day if you live long enough you will be one too and if you do manage some how to survive long enough to complete your training you will be one of only two women Faceless", Robyn answered. "And you're the other?", she asked. "I am", Robyn smiled and nodded.

"When do we start?", she asked excitedly. "Today. Go change and pack your things, you'll be staying with me at my house in the city. Meet me at the door in half an hour", the woman informed her. She looked at both Izenbaro and the Kindly Man not entirely sure she wanted to leave what she considered to be her home. They both nodded and the Kindly Man said, "don't worry child, we'll still be here when you get back". She nodded and without another word left the room.

"Is that your cat?", Robyn asked her when they met up again at the door. She shrugged her shoulders. "He seems to think he is", she smiled down at Jaqen as he rubbed up against her legs. "Bring him if you want", Robyn said with her own smile. "Less a matter of what I want than what he wants I think", she laughed. "Such is the nature of cats", Robyn smiled again.

Robyn opened the door motioning her to follow. When she got to the stair under which Needle lay hidden she paused for the briefest of heartbeats promising she'd return soon. Robyn who was several steps below her paused then turned and looked at her. "What's beneath that step apprentice?" "Nothing", she replied innocently. The woman stared at her for several seconds making her feel as if she could see into her very soul. "I would have thought that as long as you've been here you would be a better liar. I'll ask you again, what is beneath that step?" She took a deep breath, schooled her face and said "nothing".

"Well that was a little better. Had you done that the first time I asked it would have been harder for me to tell that you were lying. You can lie to them, she nodded at the House of Black and white, you can lie to everyone you meet, you can even lie to yourself if you want but do not lie to me or this ends before it even begins. What is beneath that step Arya Stark?"

She was shocked. For the first time in months someone had called her by her true name. "Needle is under the step", she whispered. "What is Needle?", Robyn asked quietly. "A sword. My brother Jon gave it to me". "A sword I'm sure you were told to get rid of yet you hid it under this step", Robyn sighed. She nodded looking down at the step in question. Robyn stared at her again for several more seconds. "Bring it", she finally said. Again she was shocked and for a moment all she could do was stare at the strange woman. When Robyn turned from her and continued down the stairs she bent over, pulled back the stone, retrieved Needle, replaced the stone then had to run down the stairs to catch up to Robyn who was walking towards a small boat tied to the dock.

Robyn's house was situated in the bend of a small canal. It was narrow as all the houses in Braavos were, four stories tall and built of stone. There was a small dock outside the front door where she tied the boat that she had paddled herself. A short flight of narrow stone stairs led up from the dock to the door of the house which was painted red.

Inside the house was richly furnished with carpets on the floors and tapestries and paintings on the walls. Robyn showed her to a room on the second floor that was to be hers while she was here. It held a huge bed, desk, table and chairs, a stone hearth and was carpeted and decorated in the same fashion as the main room down stairs. There was a large window that overlooked a garden on the back side of the house that was surround by a high stone wall on all sides. She could see several targets set up against the back wall and a rectangular wooden frame on the ground that was full of sand. "What's that for?", she wondered aloud. She smiled when she saw Jaqen exploring the garden knowing that he would appreciate the change in their accommodations as much as she did. Turning from the window she went in search of Robyn.

By the end of the first week of _training_ with Robyn Nine Fingers she was ready to run screaming back to the House of Black and White. Her hands were covered in blisters on top of blisters from digging holes on the garden, filling them back in and then digging another. She moved a large pile of stone blocks from one side of the garden to the other and then back again. Their were fifty and six blocks in total, she knew because she had counted them each time she moved them. She'd learned what the sand filled wooden frame was for during her first week as well.

"You lack inner peace", Robyn had told her. "You act and react from emotion. When you're fighting you must remain calm and think logically not with your emotions. Fear, anger, hate, these are the things that will get you or someone else killed. They cloud your mind and keep you from thinking clearly. You must control your emotions or they will control you".

Robyn led her to what she referred to as a meditation garden. To her it was no more that a wooden frame on the ground full of sand and a few large rocks. Robyn had removed the rocks and smoothed the sand flat with a wooden board. When she was done smoothing the sand she randomly dropped the rocks around on top on the sand then picked up a wooden rake, stepped in and walked to the far end. She'd noticed that Robyn left no foot prints in the sand as she crossed it. Once at the far end she began dragging the rake over the sand creating designs and patterns as she went. When she came to the stones the lines in the sand that the rake made flowed around them and they became part of the pattern. When Robyn was done what she had made was nothing short of beautiful. Every line in the pattern and every grain of sand was perfect.

Robyn had looked at her, smiled, picked up the wooden board and smoothed out the sand again. "Your turn", she'd said handing her the rake. "I can't do that", she'd told her. "Can't never did anything apprentice. Can does anything it wants", she'd replied motioning her to go to the far end of the frame.

As she stepped onto the sand Robyn said, "close your eyes and breath deeply in and out. Relax and clear your mind. Picture a spark in your mind and feed that spark all of your emotions. Feed it your fear, sorry, loneliness. Feed it your anger, hate, pain. See the spark growing bigger and turning into a flame. Keep feeding it until the only thing that exists is that flame and you are empty. The flame will hold all of those emotions until you are ready to let them back in. Now open your eyes and draw your own pattern upon the sand. She had opened her eyes and for the first time in a long time she felt at peace.

At some point Robyn had left her alone. She'd been so absorbed in what she was doing she hadn't even noticed. When she felt the wooden frame at the opposite end from where she'd started bump against her heels she'd felt almost as if she had awaken from a long peaceful sleep. She felt lighter somehow. She'd been even more surprised when she looked at what she done. Her pattern was not as perfected as Robyn's had been but it was good. She could see in the pattern each time she had lost her concentration and focus whenever a painful or angry thought surfaced in her mind. When it had she'd paused envisioned the flame and fed it those thoughts. When Robyn returned to the garden she looked at what she had done. "You did very well Cat of the Canals. Tomorrow the real training begins", she smiled.

The next day Robyn invited a troop of tumblers and acrobats to the house. They spent all that day and the next teaching her how to jump, roll backwards and forwards, flip, land on her feet and generally move like she'd never moved before. She was sore and bruised by the end but everyone said that she would be a welcome addition to the troop if she wanted to join. She laughed and thanked them.

If there was a weapon in existence that Robyn Nine Fingers had not mastered she couldn't think of what it was. By the end of her fourth week she was convinced that Robyn could have killed someone with harsh language or a stink eye. Her weapons training began not with swords but with what Robyn referred to as _distance killers. _First were throwing knives, wicked little double-edged blades that she learned how to throw over, under and side handed with either or both hands. Once she had mastered those Robyn introduced her to throwing stars. The stars Robyn had were eight pointed and could be laced with poisons so that even a scratch from one would be deadly. She had always had good eye hand coordination, much to Brandon's dismay when it came to archery, and she quickly became adept in both throwing knives and stars hitting her target every time even while running.

Next were bows and crossbows. Robyn wasn't keen on crossbows. "They take to much time to reload but if you're not in a hurry and shooting from cover they can come in handy", she'd told her. Where bows were concerned Robyn could do amazing things with one. The speed at which she could let loose an arrow, re nock and let loose again all while moving astounded her. "Moving targets are hard to hit", Robyn laughed. "Don't stand in one placing inviting the God of Death to take you". When it came to the basics of how to shoot and hitting her target she was good, doing so on the move would require much more practice.

_Close up killers_ in Robyn's world were any weapons that put you face to face with your enemy. They began with wooden knives. Like sword fighting knife fighting was an art form or so Robyn said and by the time she could just barely hold her own with Robyn she believed her. She knew now why she had spent two days with the acrobats and she put everything she'd learned to good use trying to stay out of the reach of Robyn's attacks.

She fell in love with the staff or overgrown stick as she referred to it. The ones she and Robyn used were five feet long, made of weirwood and had a metal tip at each end. In the beginning she learned they could leave a spectacular bruise but later she surprised both herself and Robyn with how well she handled one. If she lived to be one hundred years old she would never forget the satisfaction she felt when she landed a blow on Robyn that knocked her from her feet and landed her flat on her back. As Robyn laid there gasping for breath she stood over her triumphantly until Robyn reached out with her own staff and knocked her off her feet. "Don't gloat apprentice its not very becoming and it can get you killed", she'd gasped out. They looked at each other and started to laugh.

Six weeks into her training Robyn finally handed her a wooden sword. "Everything I have taught you over the last six weeks was a refining and finishing of what Syrio Forel started. He gave you the foundation on which I built making my job and yours much easier. Now let us see just how far you've come apprentice".

They started slowly, Robyn as always testing her knowledge and her limits. It wasn't long before they were swing at each other in earnest. She made mistakes and in her usual soft spoken way Robyn corrected her. "Remember the flame and your breathing. Feel what I'm going to do before I do it", Robyn would say when her focus would slip. She would center herself and refocus her mind and start again. Robyn would do and say things to intentionally distract her and at first it worked but after a while she ignored them and kept her mind on what she was doing. By the end they were both covered in sweat and breathing hard. She had lost all track of time and was shocked to see that the sun was close to setting. The muscles in her shoulders, back and arms screamed in protest when she moved something else she had not been aware of and she grinned when she saw that Robyn looked sore as well.

"Enough for today. Lets both take a bath and go into the city and have dinner, we've earned a night out", Robyn grinned mischievously. "Lets do", she grinned back then stopped and thought that in the last six weeks she hadn't once left Robyn's house. "Has it really been six weeks since I came here?" "Yes it has apprentice", she smiled. "It doesn't seem that long. I can't believe I haven't been out in the city for so long", she laughed. "We've been busy but tonight we will enjoy a much need break. Tomorrow is another day", Robyn winked.

They decided to walk rather than taking Robyn's little boat. It felt good to be out and they took their time and wandered into several shops that they passed. Robyn made several purchases along the way that would be delivered to the house the next day. "You need new clothes", Robyn said dragging her into a clothier. By the time they were done she had several new pairs of breeches, she flat out refused anything that looked remotely like a gown, several new shirts, a new cloak and two new pairs of boots. Robyn insisted that she wear a new outfit to dinner then told the shopkeeper to "please burn" the clothes she'd been wearing.

Dressed in her new clothes they wandered the streets heading in the direction of Ragman's Harbor. "Where do you want to eat Cat of the Canals?", Robyn asked her. "The Inn of the Green Eel", she promptly replied. "Inn of the Green Eel it is then", Robyn nodded.

Dinner was everything she had hoped it would be and Robyn spared no expense. They ate the best the Green Eel had to offer from a rich fish stew to dessert. She and Robyn both ate like it was their last meal. They talked as they ate and Robyn finally opened up about who she was and where she had come from. In many ways they where very much a like. Robyn's childhood had been as tragic as her own had been. Her father and mother were both children of fisherman and were born and raised in Gulltown not far from the Vale of Arryn on the east coast of Westeros. Her father had hated fishing.

When he was ten and six he'd left and become a sellsword eventually joining up with Robert Baratheon's forces during the revolt. After the war he roamed around on his own for a while then got a job on a merchant ship bound for Braavos. He'd heard stories of the Faceless and once he landed in Braavos he quit his job on the merchant ship and went to the House of Black and White where he became a Faceless Man. Years later when returning to Braavos from an assignment in Westeros he went home to Gulltown where he found his childhood love all grown up and about to marry another. They ran off in the middle of the night boarded a ship and sailed back to Braavos. They married in the Sept Beyond the Sea an hour after the ship anchored.

The news was not well received by his superiors in the Faceless. Hearth and home, wife and child were frowned on by the order because of the lives they led. He told them that they could except it or not, the deed was done. He bought the house that was now Robyn's and within a year she was born. When she was six her mother became ill. Her father was away on assignment when her mother died. She stayed alone in the house for over a week with her mother's corpse before anyone thought to check on them.

When an apprentice Faceless had come to check on them and found her he scooped her up in his arms and ran all the way back to the House of Black and White. It was months before her father returned and he was devastated by the news of his wife's death. Two weeks later he left again leaving her to be raised by the Faceless. From the age of six until she was twenty she saw her father only a hand full of times and finally one day he left and never returned. She became the only thing she knew, a Faceless Man.

"What happened to him?", she asked Robyn. "I don't know", she shrugged. He was on assignment, he could have been killed or he could have had enough of killing and decided not to come back. I don't know and never will", she replied as they made their way back to her house. "I don't know if I could ever live in Winterfell again after everything that has happened. It doesn't bother you to live in the house where your mother died?" "No. I feel close to her there. But it was years before I could walk in there Arya. I had to come to terms with a lot of things before I did. You'll go back to Winterfell one day when you're ready", Robyn smiled.

She was leading the way back home and decide to go past the Cattery. "I use to come here all the time and listen to the whores talk. They always know what's going on in the city. You want to listen for a bit?" "Listen to whores gossip? I'd love to", Robyn laughed. As they neared the Cattery they could see several whores out front. "Business must be slow tonight", she grinned at Robyn. "It must be. It looks like they're all outside", Robyn grinned back. There was no way they could make it to the alley without being seen so they hid in the shadows across the street and listened.

"I've never seen it this slow", one whore moaned. "It's going to stay that way until they catch whoever it is that's going around cutting our customers throats", Red replied. She noticed that Robyn leaned forward just a bit listening more intently. "Well they better catch him soon or we're all going to be looking for work elsewhere", Fat Alys with the mole said. There was a deep throaty laugh and then a whore she had never seen before, though for some reason her laugh sounded familiar, said "what makes you think it's a man?".

That voice", she whispered. "I know that voice. I've heard it before. Where have I heard it?" She said all of this in a whisper that only Robyn who was standing next to her in the darkness could hear. She knew that Robyn was looking at her. There was another laugh from across the street, this one from Red and then she heard her say "Sansa you say the strangest things. Of course it's a man. What woman could kill six men in the streets and alleys without getting caught?"

"Sansa?", she gasped and bolted from the shadows towards the Cattery, Robyn right behind her. Just before she reached them in an almost run she heard the voice say "a very smart woman could have killed them", and then she heard the laugh again. The laugh brought her up short, so short that Robyn ran into her. Grabbing her by the arm Robyn said " what is it, what's wrong?" She knew that voice now. How could she have forgotten the sound of it? How could she not have known who it was that spoke? Robyn jerked her around by the arm to face her. "What's wrong Arya? Tell me", she demanded shaking her. "Your face is as white as snow. What is it?"

She took a couple of deep breaths and envisioned the flame. After a moment she looked up at Robyn who looked worried. "Cersei Lannister. One of those whores is Cersei Lannister and I'm going to kill her". She said it quietly and with no emotion. "Cersei Lannister? As in the fallen queen of the Seven Kingdoms?", Robyn asked. "The very same. Now let go of me Robyn so I can kill her". She saw a gleam come into Robyn's eyes that she had never seen before. It was a little frightening.

"You'll kill no one that you're not told to kill apprentice or at the very least not until you've explained to me why you want to kill Cersei Lannister if that is indeed who that woman is which I strongly doubt. Why would Cersie Lannister be standing outside of a brothel in Braavos?" "I don't know and I don't care. It's her and I'm going to kill her", she hissed snatching her arm from Robyn's grasp. "You will not Arya Stark not until you tell me what this is about. Now do you walk away from here and back to my house under your own power or do I drag you like the child you are?" Even in the darkness she could see the look on Robyn's face. "I'll walk away, for now, but I'm coming back and killing her". "We'll discuss that and a great many more things when we get home", Robyn nodded as she grabbed her by the arm again and led her away.

She told Robyn everything that had happened to her and her family from the time Robert Baratheon rode through the gates of Winterfell until she boarded the ship to Braavos. She tried to remain in control of her emotions while she told the story but at times she cried, yelled and paced the room like a caged direwolf. "How dare that bitch call herself Sansa", she howled loudly. She even told Robyn about how she could enter the minds of animals. "Warg", Robyn had called her. When she at last fell silent she felt drained and oddly at peace. She had never told anyone the things she had just told Robyn.

She looked at Robyn standing across the room with her back to her staring out the window into the darkness of the garden. Robyn had become a lot of things to her over the last six weeks. Her trainer, her friend, her confidant. She had become like an aunt to her. "Well?", she finally said into the long silence that followed.

"I never told you how I lost my finger did I? ", Robyn asked not turning around. "No", she replied. "I was consumed by rage towards someone that had hurt me just as you are now. I went to great lengths to find this person and kill them. When I had and I stood over their corpse I realized that their death did not ease my pain or change the past. I cut off my finger to serve as a reminder that the pursuit of revenge is a wasted effort. It changes nothing. I buried my finger along with his corpse and I vowed that I would never kill again in vengeance. I never have". Her hopes that Robyn would be her ally in killing Cersie were quickly fading. "However", Robyn continued. "Cersei Lannister must die".

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Cersei III

Mylon Parrish, the man who ran the Cattery brothel, was short, middle aged, bald and was at least a hundred pounds over weight. The red haired whore who called herself Ruby showed her to his office introduced her as Sansa then beat a hasty retreat. "What do you want", he barked without looking up from the ledger he was studying as he sat behind a large desk. "Work", she replied. He looked up at her and started to laugh. "You? You're a bit long in the tooth to work for me. You could be a grandmother to several of the girls I have working here", he continued laughing. She pondered slitting his throat right there. Instead she said "with age comes experience some men find that attractive". He stopped laughing and appeared to reevaluate what he saw. "Take your clothes off", he demanded returning his attention to the ledger.

She stripped slowly gritting her teeth knowing what his next demand would likely be. When she stood before him naked he rose from his chair and looked at her from every angle. She knew that the wine she'd overindulged in during the last year had put some pounds on her but the time on the ship getting here had worked wonders in slimming her back down. Visual inspection over he began to run his hands all over her body even insisting on looking at her teeth. She remembered Jaime inspecting horses in much the same way before he bought them.

"What happened to your hair? Why is it so short?" "I cut it", she lied as memories of the hated septas shaving her from head to toe before they made her walk through the streets of King's Landing flooded her mind. He grunted. "You're educated, not at all like the other whores that I employ", he stated. "I'm actually very well educated", she nodded. "It's a shame the men who come here aren't interested in conversation with an educated woman", he laughed. He took a step back and looked her in the eye. "Show me what you can do besides speak well", he smiled. She suppressed the shudder that threatened to overwhelm her and put on the sexually performance of her life right there in his office.

"Does this education of yours include numbers?", he asked later as she was getting dressed. "It does", she nodded. "Any experience in the running and managing of a house and staff?", he inquired. She almost laughed out loud. "Only the entire Seven Kingdoms", she thought but didn't say. "Yes", she answered simply. He looked at her for several moments before he spoke again.

"I have several business interests in the city, the Cattery is the least of them. Suppose I were to let you see to the day to day running of this place so that I could concentrate on my more lucrative business ventures". "What would I have to do?", she asked as she accepted a glass of wine he offered her.

"Oversee the kitchen and make sure it's well supplied, oversee the maids, collect the money from our customers and make sure they enjoy themselves while they're here, keep the books. Make sure the whores behave themselves and don't rob us blind. You would be the "lady" of the house so to speak, what in this business is referred to as the "whore mistress" or "madam". You would be in a unique position. As far as our customers go you can fuck any of them you want or none, it's your choice. If you did whatever money they pay you is all yours to keep. I'm sure with your abilities in that area they'd be willing to pay you very well indeed", he winked.

"And how much would you pay me to do all of this", she smiled. "Considering the fact that you'll be getting room and board not to mention a new wardrobe and everything else you'll need to be able to represent this establishment, one gold crown a week and whatever you make on the side", he grinned. "Not a bad proposition", she thought. "I'll do it. When do I start?", she asked. "Right now. I'll have one of the girls show you to your room. Take a bath, find something to wear, eat and then come back here". She nodded and stood as he went to the door and hollered for Ruby.

That had been five weeks ago and since then she had settled into her new life and home. Her fellow whores had not liked the idea of the new girl coming in and taking over but after she made an example of one by beating her bloody the rest decided to keep their mouths shut and do as she said. She had been trained almost from birth on how to run and manage a house. There was little difference if the house was a home to some high born lord or king or a whore house in Braavos. Mylon said that the house and whores had never be cleaner or better managed in the history of the place. He was also pleased with her work on the books. She had found several mistakes that had been made which resulted in him having more money than he thought he did. To show his appreciation he gave her an extra gold piece.

She had her own room and a closet full of clothes, whores clothes to be sure not the gowns and finery that she was use to. They were at least decent if somewhat provocative. They reminded her of the clothes the slut Margaery Tyrell wore. She had a list of men that came to the Cattery now that wanted only her. Some had bought her nice clothes and taken her to parties at this or that noble's house. Everyone in attendance knew she was a whore but that didn't stop her from making new friends among the men right under the noses of their wives. She'd flatter and flirt with them outrageously throughout dinner and even more so during the dancing that followed.

The men paid her well for the things she did for them in and out of the bed. If Mylon had known how well he might have wanted a cut of what she earned. She kept it a secret and convinced her men friends to do the same. She hated them all of course, they were nothing more to her than a means to an end and the end was getting enough money to pay for passage on a ship to Westeros with enough left over to survive on long enough to put her plans for revenge into action.

She'd been there a month when one early morning before the sun rose and after the Cattery had closed she ventured to the alley where her stash of coins still lay hidden under a stone. It was risky to leave it here she knew but felt it would be even more of a risk to bring it into the Cattery where any snooping whore could find it in her room. She had just placed a hand full of coins in the pouch and replaced it beneath the stone when she heard footsteps coming toward her down the alley. She stood, heart racing, and turned to see who it was.

She knew his face, had seen him countless times hanging around the front door of the Cattery, to drunk and to poor to come in. He was drunk now she could see by the way he staggered towards her in the darkness. "What you doing out here in the alley love", he slurred as he continued to advance on her.

"Getting some air", she replied fingering the handle of Lancel's dagger she wore on her arm under the sleeve of her dress. "Well it must be my lucky night", he grinned shaking his money pouch at her. "I've got more than enough to buy the time of the likes of you", he smirked. "Really? Let me see", she grinned back.

He opened the pouch and shook out the coins into his palm. She was surprised to see that he did indeed have quite a bit of gold along with several pieces of silver. "It ain't all for you though, this is way more than what you're worth. I'll give you one of these", he told her holding up a single silver piece. "That will do just fine but we'll have to do it here in the alley if you want me. The Cattery is closed and I can't let you in", she smiled. ""Here's as good as anywhere", he leered at her grabbing her and pulling her close. His breath almost took hers away and made her eyes water. He pushed her farther into the shadows and up against the wall then started fumbling at her clothes.

As she slid her arms around his neck she reached under her sleeve and drew her dagger. As he grunted and pumped away she started to laugh, she couldn't help it. He drew back to look at her and said "what's so funny?" "This", she responded stabbing him through the throat. She continued to laugh as he slid slowly to the ground and lay at her feet. Still laughing she bent over, grabbed his coin pouch and emptied its contents into her hand including the single silver piece he was so generously going to give her.

She walked over to the stone, lifted it, removed her own pouch and placed the coins into it. "Fuck it, to risky to leave it here now for sure. I'll take it back with me and Gods help the whore that touches it", she whispered. Looking down at herself she saw a long smear of blood covering the front of her dress from neckline to hem. She'd have to be careful and make sure no one saw her on the way to her room. Clinging to the shadows she made her way to the Cattery, peered into the window to make sure no one was about then entered and went to her room all without being seen. Once there she removed the dress, tossed it into the hearth where it was consumed by the fire, hid her coin pouch, washed and got into bed where she laughed until she fell asleep.

By week six of her employment at the Cattery her pouch was so fat she had to find another larger one. She supplemented her earnings by prowling the streets and alleys looking for drunks with fat coin purses. It was easy really. She'd lure them into the shadows and while they humped her she'd kill them. She'd only had one close call when after killing one drunk another had stumbled into the same alley to relieve himself. Still sitting astride the corpse she'd pretended they were still going at it until the drunk had finished, grinned at her and staggered away. She wasn't worried that he'd be able to remember what she looked like. It had been dark and he had been drunk.

The talk on the streets of Braavos were the killings of course, six at last count. It seemed that one of the drunks had been a nobleman's son. She vaguely remembered him. He hadn't smelled and had been nicely dressed, his coin pouch had been full of gold coins. So what if there was one less noble in the world. She had decided to let the talk die down before going out again. She'd do her job here and stay indoors just to be safe. Robert had told her once a long time ago that no matter what she had or how much she had of it she would never be satisfied. He had been right she had to admit, she liked the killing and the money but she didn't want to get caught. She'd lay low for awhile.

She had taken to hanging around outside the door of the Cattery in the evenings with the whores. They had gotten off to a rocky start but now they got along well with each other. Even she and Maggie, the whore she had beaten, where on good terms. It was turning out to be a very slow evening and as she and the whores gathered outside the talk turned to the recent killings. She laughed and asked Fat Alys why she thought the killer was a man and when Ruby said that of course it was a man, what woman could kill six men in the streets she had replied a smart one and laughed again.

As she continued to laugh a strange feeling came over her. Her flesh broke out in pimples and the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood up. She remember an old saying about a cat walking over your grave. She stopped laughing and looked around. In the darkness not far from where they stood she could just barely make out two shadowy forms. One appeared to be a grown man or woman, she couldn't tell, and the other smaller figure could have been an older child or a dwarf she thought. "Oh my gods it's him". Tyrion come from gods knew where to point her out as a murderer and tell everyone who she really was. The evil little Imp would lay waste to all her plans and destroy her in the process. As she reached beneath her sleeve for her dagger Tyrion and whomever was with him turned and walked away.

"What's got you so spooked Sansa? You look like you just saw a ghost", Fat Alys laughed. "It will be your ghost if you don't shut the fuck up Alys", she hissed as she stormed through the door and slammed it. Upstairs in her room she paced, cursed and tried to think of what to do. It was Tyrion she was sure. Who else that small would have been watching her in the darkness. "He got far to close", she thought as she paced. "I can't let that happen again. I'll have to find him and put an end to him once and for all if my plan is ever going to succeed. I'll track him down, find out where he stays and kill him". She threw on a cloak ran back downstairs and out the door past the startled whores. They called out to her but she ignored them as she ran up the street in the direction the Imp had gone.

She had little hope of catching sight of him again as she hurried along but when she turned a corner she saw him and his companion turn left and head up the next street. "I've got you bastard", she whispered as she quickened her pace. The streets in this part of town were still busy and the people between them kept her hidden from view. They would also make it more difficult to kill him. She slowed her pace but kept him in sight, continuing to follow him until he and his friend came to a house with a red door and went inside. She crept through the shadows until she reached the house then stopped and pondered what to do. There where no windows on the street level so she couldn't see in and the back side of the house was surrounded by a high stone wall. "Seven Hells", she swore.

She waited in the darkness for more than an hour to see if he would come out. He didn't. When the light shinning through the upstairs window went out she returned to the Cattery. As she walked sanity began to reassert itself into her thoughts. "Maybe it wasn't him. I need to know for sure, I'll come back and watch the house tomorrow. Whoever it is will leave sooner or later and I'll know for certain if it's him.

Business was still slow when she got back to the Cattery. She walked in mumbled an apology to Alys and to make it up to her continued teaching her to read and write, something she'd begun doing several weeks ago. If she had another fifty years Alys might be successful at learning how to do it. When the night was done they had entertained a total of just six customers, a huge decrease over what they usually did in a night. Those that had ventured out were all well armed and sober. "I've cause quite a stir it seems. Damn you Tyrion. You will not ruin my plans", she thought getting angry again. An hour before dawn she said her good nights and headed upstairs to bed knowing that sleep would be a long time in coming if it did at all.

Back up at noon she gave the cook and the house staff their instructions then left. Finding her way back to the house with the red door she walked across the bridge to the opposite side of the canal and found a place to sit and watch the house from an alley. She noticed that there was no boat tied up to the dock below the house and cursed under her breath. There where no sounds of life coming from the house or the yard behind it so she decided to wait awhile longer to see if anyone returned. An hour passed and then half of another and still she waited, something she wasn't good at doing.

She jumped when a red and white stripped cat appeared out of nowhere and hopped up on a barrel beside her. She looked at the cat and it laid it's ears flat against its head hissed and growled at her. She took a step back at the same time the cat jumped from the barrel going for her face. Shock was the first thing she felt and then pain as the cats teeth sunk deeply into her cheek and one sharply clawed front paw raked across her eye. She screamed and staggered out of the alley backwards hands grabbing hold of the cat trying to pull it off of her. That was the wrong thing to do she realized to late. The more she tried to pull the cat from her face the deeper in its teeth and claws sank. Stumbling blindly backwards she tripped over the edge of the street where it met the canal. "I'm going to fall into the canal", she thought just before she hit the water. The cat from the seventh level of hell held on sinking it's teeth and claws in even deeper. She felt and heard her eyeball pop and then felt a warm ooze run down her face.

Not even the shock of the water made the cat let go. It clung to her face as she struggled to breath, it's wet fur all but clogging her mouth and nose. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt. In desperation she dove beneath the water knowing that the cat wouldn't be able to breath either and hoping to all the gods that the bastard would drown. Still it hung on stubbornly refusing to let go or die. She dove deeper to no avail and then she began to panic. She was now struggling to get to the surface, fighting with everything she had. As the vision in her only eye began to dim the cat finally let go. It took her befuddled mind a moment to realize she was free and then she broke the surface gasping and coughing. As she swam to the small dock below the house she had been watching and shakily climbed out of the canal she looked around for the cat fearful it would attack her again. She saw no sign of it in the water or on the dock where she lay gasping for air.

She was bleeding badly from the bite on her cheek and from the socket where her eye had been. Deep scratches and puncture wounds covered her face, neck and chest. "The bastard took my eye. I'm blind", she screamed. Her face felt like it was on fire. Shaking badly she got to her feet, staggered up the stairs and started walking back towards the Cattery. She ripped the sleeve from her dress and pressed it to her face. She started to laugh hysterically. "Why didn't I use my knife", she screamed. She knew why. She had been so shocked but the viciousness of the attack she had forgot all about it. She stopped in mid step. "Is that how all of my victims felt when I killed them?", she wondered thinking of everyone she had killed beginning with the septas on the ship. She shuddered and started walking again.

She never heard the red door on the house she had been watching open. Never saw the person that stepped out of it glare at her retreating back. Never knew that same person walked to the side of the house where it bent over and picked up a near drowned cat then return to the house and slam the door.

She was ranting and raving by the time she walked through the door of the Cattery, completely out of her mind with pain. No one she passed on the streets offered to help her. The maid took one look at her and started to scream. She paid her no mind as she struggled up the stairs to her room. Once there she made it to the bed and collapsed. She heard the door open but didn't have the strength to see who entered. "It's Tyrion and he has come to finish me off", was her last thought before she passed out.

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

End Game

_Cersei_

She knew that she was sick and burning with fever. From time to time she would catch snatches and fragments of conversation though who spoke she didn't know. "Badly infected", "water in the canal is filthy by anyone's standards" and "what the fuck did that to her?". When she rose to the surface of her delirium she knew pain the likes of which she had never know before. Her face was on fire. Some part of her rational mind hoped that she was not ranting about who she really was and what she had done. When she sunk again into oblivion the faces of all the people she had killed and all the people who still lived that she hated would torture her.

When she finally became aware of who and where she was the first thing she felt were the stiff, heavy bandages that covered the left side of her face and her right eye the second was the pain she felt when she touched them. "Don't touch", a voice said as gentle hands pushed hers away. The next thing those hands did was lift a cup to her lips. "Drink", the voice commanded. Cool water trickled down her parched throat and she thought that nothing had ever tasted so good.

She opened her eye and saw Fat Alys's face hovering above her. "Thank you", she whispered. Fat Alys smiled and said "sleep Sansa" and she did. When next she awoke she felt a little stronger and the pain in her face had subsided to a dull ache. She was alone but not for long when she heard the door open. She turned her head, causing her face to throb in anger, to see who entered. "Good, you're awake", said a man she didn't know. "I'm Azzarello, the healer who has tended you this whole last week", he introduced himself. "Week?", she mumbled. "You've been very sick. Almost died", he told her as he sat on the bed next to her and began removing the bandages.

Once the bandages were off he applied some sort of greasy ointment to her face and neck and then turned his attention to her eye. "Not much I can do about this. Your eye is gone I'm afraid". She swallowed thickly looking at him with her good left eye. "Do you remember what happened to you?" he asked. "A cat attacked me", she whispered. "A cat?", he replied dumfounded. She nodded. "I fell into the canal but it still wouldn't let go". "Cats have nasty mouths. Between that and the filthy water of the canal I'm very surprised you survived the infection or that it wasn't worse than it was", he replied. "I want to see", she croaked. "I'm not sure that's a good idea", he responded. "Bugger what you think. Bring me a mirror", she snapped.

He shrugged, stood up from the bed and went to her dressing table to get her mirror. "You're sure?", he asked when he returned. She rudely snatched the mirror from his hand, took a deep breath and looked.

Her face and neck were covered in deep scratches and puncture wounds. Her cheek was a red, swollen mass of flesh that oozed puss. She could clearly see the punctures the cats teeth had made. The socket where her beautiful blue eye had once been was red and swollen, long claw marks from her eyebrow to just below her eye marred her once perfect skin. Red bloody tissue poked out from between the lids.

"I'm a monster", she thought and then she started to laugh and then her laughter turned into a scream. And she screamed and screamed and screamed all the while seeing the face of the laughing Imp dance before her one good eye. Whatever remained of her sanity crumbled to dust.

_Arya_

She wrapped Jaqen in a towel and placed him in a basket next to the hearth. He was alive but barely she thought as she rubbed him dry. He meowed at her once, a pitiful sounding meow, and then closed his eyes and went to sleep. She checked to be sure he was still breathing. She felt horrible for the way she had used him and started to cry. When Robyn returned home an hour later from the House of Black and White she took one look at her face and said "what happen, there's blood all over the dock".

"I was upstairs in my room practicing warging into Jaqen like you told me to. I saw someone in the alley watching the house so I got closer to see who it was. It was Cersei. I saw her as plainly as I see you now. It scared me at first and then it made me angry. I attacked her, or made Jaqen attack her I guess you'd say. She fell into the canal and I made Jaqen hold on even tighter. She dove down beneath the water and I still made him hold on. Finally I knew he was dying, drowning, so I made him let go. I made him swim out and go to the side of the house. I came back to myself and when I opened the door I saw Cersei laying on the dock. She was bleeding all over her face and I think Jaqen clawed her eye out. I shut the door and waited for her to leave and then went out and got Jaqen".

Robyn looked at her for a moment and then walked over to the hearth and looked at Jaqen. He opened his eyes and meowed at her. "Will he live?", she asked Robyn. "I don't know apprentice. He grew up on the streets of Braavos, he's tough. Maybe he'll live or maybe the God of Death will take him. I don't know", she sighed.

Robyn turned to look at her. "You're sure it was her?" "As sure as I am that I'm Arya Stark", she nodded. "How could she possibly have known you were here? She must have recognized you last night and followed us here", Robyn said shaking her head. "It was dark and she hasn't seen me in a year, I don't know how she could have recognized me Robyn". She followed Robyn into the kitchen and watched as she heated some chicken broth. "Is that lunch?", she asked. "For the near drowned cat", Robyn laughed. "See if you can get him to eat some".

While she spoon fed Jaqen his lunch she asked Robyn what she had learned at the House of Black and White about the murders in the city. "There have been six. Unfortunately one of them was the Sealord's nephew. The Sealord himself went to the House of Black and White to personally tell the Kindly Man that he would pay any price to see that the person responsible was found and killed. As of right now myself and every other Faceless in the city have been tasked with that assignment".

"It's Cersei, I know it is", she declared vehemently. "We're not even sure that woman is Cersei Lannister. All we have to go on is a voice and laughter heard in the darkness and what you saw through a cat's eyes", Robyn said. "Why wont you believe me? It's her. It's Cersei Lannister", she shouted. "Calm yourself apprentice or go out and scratch in the sand until you can", Robyn said quietly. She rolled her eyes and went back to feeding Jaqen.

"He ate it all", she said holding up the empty bowl. "He's going to live", she pronounced with a smile. "Or die with a full stomach", Robyn nodded. She glared at Robyn. Robyn grinned and winked. "Go upstairs to the third floor. Find a face that suits you and put it on. Dress in your old clothes and come back downstairs", Robyn commanded. "What are we going to do?", she asked. "We're going to find out once and for all if this woman truly is Cersei Lannister", Robyn replied. "How?", she wanted to know. "Do as you've been told apprentice. I'll explain on the way", Robyn nodded. "The way where?", she asked. Robyn sighed and pointed at the stairs.

"This is ridiculous. I already told you it's her", she grumbled to Robyn as they approached the door of the Cattery. "Tell me again after you've taken a good, long, close up look at her face", Robyn had replied as she opened the door and they walked into the Cattery. A fat bald man was standing in the main room, when he saw Robyn he turned pale and became flustered. There was no doubt in her mind that he knew who and what Robyn was.

"Lady", he said bowing low. "To what do I own the honor of your presence in my establishment?" "I'm looking for this child's mother. She thinks that she may be working here. The woman's name is Sansa. Do you have anyone working here by that name?", Robyn asked politely. "Indeed we do my Lady but she returned to us this afternoon grievous injured. A healer is with her now", the man told her while wringing his hands. "Take us too her at once", Robyn snapped.

The man all but tripped over his own feet as he led them upstairs to a room at the end of the hall. When he paused at the door Robyn brushed him aside opened the door and pulled her into the room. The healer looked up startled, nodded to Robyn and stood up from where he had been sitting on the bed tending to his patient. Without a word to him Robyn led her to the bed and she got her first look at Cersei Lannister in over a year.

Jaqen had indeed ripped her eye out. The bite on her face was deep and still bleeding. It seemed that even before this afternoon time had not been kind to Cersei. She was fatter than she had been and her face had aged. He hair was short and matted against her head. She wanted to finish the job that she and Jaqen had started just a few hours before. Robyn must have known that because she painfully squeezed her hand. "Is that her child", Robyn asked. She gave Robyn a barely perceivable nod of her head and said, "that's not my mother" loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Robyn nodded to both men and they left without another word leaving them in stunned silence.

"Alright we know for sure that she is Cersei Lannister", Robyn said. "I always knew it, you were the one that didn't believe", she responded dryly. "I had to see her up close for myself", Robyn said. She stopped walking and looked at Robyn. "You know Cersei? You've seen her before", she whispered. "Of course I've seen her before apprentice. Do you think that I've never left Braavos? I've traveled all over Westeros on assignment. I saw her and Robert in King's Landing three years ago and I never forget a face". "So what now?", she stammered. "We know that she is indeed Cersei Lannister but we have no idea if she is the one behind the murders. We wait and watch. If it is her that's behind them she'll kill again provided she survives what you and that damn cat did to her". "And if it is her Robyn?" "Then you carry out your assignment apprentice with the blessings of the Faceless and the Sealord himself".

_Cersei_

Three days after the healer Azzarello told her she was as recovered as she was going to be Mylon Parrish came to her room. "You can't stay here Sansa. Your face, well lets just say that your face isn't good for business", he told her. "So I wont go downstairs except when we're closed to give the staff their instructions. I'll stay here in my room or your office. I can still keep the books and run this house". She didn't like the pleading sound she heard in her own voice. "It's not just your looks Sansa it's the fact that you seem to have the attention of some people I'd rather not cross".

"You're referring to the woman and the girl that came to visit me. I already told you that I don't know them and the girl herself said I wasn't her mother", she snapped. "That _woman_ was not just some woman Sansa. She is Robyn Nine Fingers, a Faceless. She is a legend among a legendary order of legends. No one except maybe the higher ups in the Faceless knows what she truly looks like. The face she wears here in Braavos is one of hundreds she has worn. The only thing that stays the same about her is that death follows in her wake. If Robyn Nine Fingers is interested in you then believe me there is a reason and I don't want to know what it is. You have to leave. If you're alive a month from now I'll consider letting you come back". I'll expect you to be gone by tomorrow evening at the latest". With that he left the room.

So she left knowing she had nowhere else to go in Braavos. She wouldn't beg him to let her stay. She still had her money, her knives and her pride as battered and scarred as the rest of her was. She wandered the streets for hours and the more she wandered the angrier she became. "Tyrion did this. He's somewhere watching me and laughing". She spoke this and other things out loud as she wandered causing the people that passed her to to look at her questioningly. Most shook their heads and went on their way. She paid them no attention barely even noticing them at all.

She was in fact being watched, had been since before she even left the Cattery, and the person who watched wasn't laughing. She would have been surprised to know just who the person was that watched and followed her through the streets of Braavos.

She found herself in the Ragman's Harbor looking at the ships. Eventually she approached the men she saw on the docks and inquired about passage to Westeros. She would figure out what to do once she got there. Surely she still had friends there that would take her in and help her destroy her enemies and win back the Iron Throne. She was still a Lannister of Casterly Rock and a Lannister always pays their debts.

She booked passage on a merchant ship called the _Fair Wind._ The captain told her that they would be making several stops along the coast of Westeros and she could get off where ever she wanted. The only problem was that they weren't leaving Braavos till the end of the week which was four days from now. When she explained to the captain that she had nowhere to stay and asked him if she could stay on the ship he told her she could. She knew he did it out of pity after seeing her face but in this instance she didn't care. He could pity her all he wanted so long as she didn't have to sleep on the streets of Braavos.

He showed her to a small cabin and told her she was welcome to eat with the crew or here in her room. She thanked him and he left. Stowing her meager possessions and the food she had taken from the Cattery in a trunk she laid down on the narrow cot and went to sleep.

_Arya_

She and Robyn had been watching Cersei since the day they had gone to the Cattery. Of course there hadn't been anything to watch until today. Still recovering from the wounds Jaqen had inflicted on her Cersei had stayed put inside the Cattery until early this afternoon when she left carrying a pack as if she were leaving for good. She had followed along behind her watching as Cersei walked through the streets talking to herself. Once she had passed within inches of her. She was wearing the face of someone else and doing so had made her bold. She had been close enough to stab Cersei through the heart and had to fight the impulse to do so.

She felt a little uneasy as she watched Cersei stroll down the docks and talk to several of the men working there. She felt even more uneasy as she watched her talk to a man that had to be a captain. When Cersei gave him money and then boarded a ship she went into a full blown panic. She was about to take off running through the streets to find Robyn when she saw her standing not far away. Robyn nodded then disappeared among the crowd of people going about their business on the streets around the dock. She followed.

She walked to where a bent over old woman was seated next to one of the public fountains. The face Robyn wore was wrinkled, she had dyed her hair gray and it stuck out at odd angles from her head. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as she sat down on the edge of the fountain not far from where Robyn sat. "Find something amusing apprentice?', Robyn asked. "No", she giggled. Robyn ignored her.

"So, it appears Cersei is leaving our fair city in search of friendlier places", Robyn said. "We can't let her do that Robyn", she replied. "Our assignment is to find the person responsible for the murders apprentice not to let you indulge yourself in vengeance and so far we haven't seen Cersei Lannister kill anyone". "True, but the whole time Cersei was laid up in the Cattery recovering there were no murders which proves she is the murderer", she retorted.

The old woman snorted loudly. "Your logic is flawed apprentice and reminded me that if I am ever accused of a crime to not ask you to defend me", she crackled. "It could be that the murderer found out we are looking for him and moved on or he could have been killed himself. We don't and won't know until we see Cersei murder someone or another body shows up that we know for a fact she had nothing to do with". "We need to find out when that ship leaves Robyn". "Four days from now the _Fair Wind_ sets sail for Westeros", the old woman muttered. "How do you know that?", she demanded. "I checked with the harbor master, I know when every ship in port is leaving and where they are bound for. Something you could have done if you were thinking logically instead of emotionally", the old woman nodded.

"If that ship leaves port in four days and Cersei hasn't killed anyone I'll be on it too. No way am I going to let her slip through my fingers", she thought. "Don't do anything foolish apprentice", Robyn warned. "I wont", she shrugged.

_Cersei_

She woke with a dull headache, hungry and out of sorts. She didn't really know why she felt so out of sorts, she was after all on her way home or would be in four days. Unless it was because she really wasn't done with Braavos. She had come to hate this city and everyone in it.

"Why hasn't Tyrion shown himself? What could he possibly be waiting for? He knows I'm here. Maybe he's afraid of me", she smiled. "If he'd been following me one night when I killed someone he may have seen me do it and is thinking twice about confronting me". That thought made her smile and feel better. "I'll stalk the streets tonight myself. If he's out there I'll find him and kill him. If not I'll kill someone else and replace the gold I spent to get on this ship", she decided. She rose from her cot dressed, threw on her cloak and pulled the hood up to hide her face. She checked both knives strapped to her arms and then headed for the door of her cabin.

It was just after sundown when she stepped onto the empty deck. "Good, no one will see me leave and hopefully they wont be here when I return". She walked down the narrow plank from the ship to the dock and started up it towards the street. She never noticed the silent shadow that detached itself from all the other shadows and followed her nor did she pay any attention to the feeble old woman who sat at the end of the dock on a create.

_Arya_

She would never have admitted it to Robyn but she was tired, hungry and had to pee. They both had hung around the docks almost the entire day waiting on Cersei to leave the ship. When the sun set she said a silent prayer to the Stranger that they're wait had not been in vain. Shortly after she saw Cersei come up on deck, walk down the plank from the ship and head towards the street. Her heart started beating faster, she forgot how tired and hungry she was and followed her.

Cersei passed Robyn and didn't even look in her direction. When she passed her Robyn waited a few moments then followed her and Cersei into the darkness. They continued following Cersei for several hours as she wandered all over the city almost as if she were looking for someone. She seemed to be drawn to every whore house in the city and would wait and watch for sometimes as long as an hour outside each one. She eventually retraced her steps back towards Ragman's and at the mouth of an alley two blocks from the Cattery she stopped and leaned against the wall. Robyn caught up with her where she waited across the street and down a little ways from where Cersei stood. At Robyn's nod they moved deeper into the shadows.

_Cersei_

She'd walked all over the city looking for the Imp and had no luck finding him. She almost returned to the house with the red door but was afraid to after her experience with the cat. She'd walked by and waited outside of every brothel in Braavos knowing Tyrion's love for whores but never caught sight of him. She gave up finally and decide to stalk different prey.

It had always been easy to lure drunks into an alley or out of the way place and kill them. Of course that was before her face had been mauled. She was having doubts that she'd be able to pull it off this time. The streets of the city were lit by hundreds if not thousands of oil filled lamps and it was the job of some nameless, faceless person to keep them all filled and lit. "As long as I stay out of the light and keep my face covered I'll be fine, she whispered to herself.

As she knew would happen a man came staggering towards her humming tunelessly under his breath. As he drew nearer he became aware that someone was standing at the mouth of the alley and she stepped away from the wall directly into his path. He stopped and peered at her in the gloom and then grinned. "Hello my lady. Why are you out here all alone in the dark?", he laughed knowing full well why she was. "I'm looking for a man with a few extra coins in his pocket that needs a friend", she laughed. His grinned widened, "well that just might be me, but I want a better look at what I'm buying first". Before she could reply he reached over and snatched the hood away from her face. What he saw in the light of the oil lamp made him gasp and step back. She let out a scream of outrage that echoed off the walls of the buildings around them.

Shocked even more by her reaction he took another step back and threw up his hands as she tried to claw his face all the while screaming and cursing. He was fast and caught both her arms in his hands and shoved her backwards hard enough to knock her to the ground. As soon as she hit he turned tail and ran as fast as he could in the direction he had come from. She was more than just mad as she jumped to her feet she was enraged. She drew her dagger and started chasing him still cursing and screaming at the top of her lungs.

She chased him for five blocks up and down streets and through alleys until she lost him where four streets converged. She'd had to stop screaming as she ran but when she realized she'd lost him she started screaming and ranting again. "How dare you look at me like that!", she screamed after the man she'd chased. She knew who was truly to blame for everything that had happened to her since she was six years old and he'd killed her mother coming into the world. "It's all your fault Tyrion you bastard!" "Hide from me all you want, I'll find you", she screamed into the darkness.

_Face To Face_

She and Robyn looked at one another as first the man and then Cersei ran past the alley where they watched. After a moment of stunned disbelief they bolted from the alley and followed. They lost sight of Cersei before they had gone two blocks and had to rely on her intermittent screams to lead them in the right direction. Before long she stopped screaming and she and Robyn had to split up to try to relocate her. She knew she was close but not close enough when she heard Cersei start screaming again. She couldn't catch more than a few words of what she was saying but felt sure she heard the word "Tyrion". "Why is she calling out to her brother?", she wondered as she continued running in the direction the screams where coming from. Before she got there the screams ended abruptly and she knew she had lost her again.

She and Robyn met up where four streets intersected one another. "Did you see which way she went?", Robyn asked breathing hard. She shook her head to winded to speak. "Shit", Robyn hissed.

Together they searched a short distance down each one of the streets but saw no sight of anyone and heard no further screaming. The sky had grown quite a bit lighter when Robyn finally called a halt to the search. "She's gone. Probably back at the ship by now" "So what we just give up", she demanded. "The sun is coming up and we both need some rest and something to eat. We'll try again tonight", Robyn said sounding as disappointed as she felt. All she could do was nod as they started towards Robyn's house.

"I heard Cersei screaming out her brother's name", she said as they walked towards the house. "Really? Which brother?", Robyn asked. "Tyrion". "Why would she be calling out to him? He's not in Braavos, at least not that the Kindly Man knows of or he would have told me", Robyn replied. She shrugged, "that's what I heard her say".

At some point during the chase Robyn had discarded the old woman rags she wore over her usual leather breeches, vest and boots. She looked like a really wrinkled old woman in the face, gray hair still sticking out all over her head, with the body of a thirty year old. She was tired and hungry still and for some reason Robyn's appearance struck her as funny. She looked at Robyn and started to giggle as the house came into view.

One moment they were walking along the next Robyn grabbed her by the arm, yanked her completely off her feet and shoved her behind some creates that were stacked just outside of a shop across the canal from the house near the alley where she and Jaqen had encountered Cersei. Robyn was holding her down as she peered out from behind the crates. "What is it? What's wrong Robyn? She was more than just a little frightened. "Someone is in my house", Robyn replied. What? How do you know?, she asked struggling to sit up. Robyn pushed her down again. "I know because Jaqen is nailed to the front door", Robyn whispered turning to look at her. "Nailed to the front door?", she asked not quite comprehending what Robyn had said. Robyn nodded. "He's dead?", she whispered. Robyn nodded.

The Arya she had been two years ago would have cried. The Arya she was now got angry. "Let me up Robyn", she said quietly. Robyn looked at her again, appeared to consider something for a moment, and let her up. She looked over the create at the door and saw that not only was Jaqen dead and nailed to the red door of Robyn's house but someone had gutted him. Blood ran down the door beneath him and everything that had been in him lay in a pile on the stone landing. "I hope he was dead before that happen", she whispered. "Me too", Robyn replied. Robyn stood up and looked at her. "I think we've found Cersei Lannister", she said. "I think so too. Lets go do to her what she did to Jaqen", she whispered. Robyn smiled and nodded.

"What weapons do you have on you apprentice?", Robyn asked. "My throwing stars and Needle", she responded. "I'm going around the back. If you think you can I want you to go in the front door. Once inside if you don't see her I want you to call out to her", Robyn said. "You can get over the wall?", she asked. "Easily", Robyn smiled. "Promise me you'll let me kill her", she demanded. "That is up to the God of Death apprentice. "You worry about remembering everything I've taught you and stay alive". They crossed the bridge and Robyn darted down the side of the house not making a sound. She took a deep breath, visualized the flame and walked to the door.

She tried not to look at Jaqen as she opened the door. The house was quiet, nothing had been disturbed and there was no sign of Cersei. She removed the face that she wore and dropped it on the floor. She wanted Cersei to know it was her, needed her to know who it was that was going to kill her.

Taking a deep breath she called out, "Cersei, Cersei Lannister. It's Arya Stark. Nothing happened. "I know you're in here Cersei. Come out and face me or are you afraid of a little girl? Come out you coward or can you only kill drunks and cats?" She heard footsteps slowly coming towards her down the stairs. She took another deep breath, fed her fear, hated and angry into the flame and waited.

"Arya Stark", a voice she knew and hated said. "What are you doing in Braavos? I thought you were long dead", Cersei said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Not dead at all Cersei. Your bastard son killed my father and your father killed my mother and brother and gods only know what you did to my sister but none of you could get me. Cersei grinned. "It was a bad year for Starks", she laughed.

"Not a good year for Lannisters either especially for you judging by your face. Lets see. Joffery was poisoned, I'm very sorry I missed that. Your brother Jaime lost a hand. Your daughter is maimed and held captive. She lost an eye too didn't she? Your brother Tyrion killed your father while he was taking a shit. Good for Tyrion, I always sorta like him. And poor Cersei lost everything, a throne, a crown, her freedom, her looks and her sanity and ended up a whore in Braavos. When you fell you really fell", she laughed. Cersei's one eye had a glazed look about it, her face was red and she couldn't help but notice that when she mentioned Tyrion Cersie actually growled.

"Where is he"?, Cersei hissed. "Who?", she asked totally taken off guard by the question. "You know who you little animal, Tyrion, she screamed. "How the hell should I know?", she shrugged. "You do to know, I followed him here the night I saw him watching me outside the Cattery", she yelled taking several steps towards her. "That was me outside the Cattery you crazy bitch", she laughed.

"Don't you laugh at me", Cersei spat shaking violently. "I killed them all and I'll kill you too". "Who have you killed besides a helpless cat?", she demanded. "Those annoying septas on the ship, the Warrior's Sons, Lancel and six drunks one of which was a nobleman, she screamed. "And that sealed your fate", Robyn said entering the room from the kitchen door. Cersie looked at what she thought was an old woman, laughed, drew a knife from beneath her sleeve and launched herself at Robyn who easily sidestepped out of her way.

She did what Robyn had trained her to do. Without even thinking about it she drew the stars from her belt and let fly. Her aim was true and the stars thudded into Cersei's neck and and back. Cersei Lannister was dead before she hit the floor. "Well done apprentice", Robyn whispered.

_Aftermath_

She didn't know how she felt. She sat in a chair next to the hearth as Izenbaro, The Kindly Man and the Sealord himself whispered quietly with Robyn in the kitchen. As two apprentices collected Cersei's body and removed it from the house all three men left never speaking a word to her. Robyn removed Jaqen from the door and placed his remains into an ornately carved wooden box. It wasn't until then that she started to cry.

She couldn't remember when the last time she had felt safe enough to cry was. Perhaps it had been before King Robert had come to Winterfell, before her father had been murdered, before her brothers had been murdered, before her mother had been murdered, before Sansa was lost. Whenever it had been she cried now in great racking sobs that shook her entire body. Robyn was there and held her until the storm past. "You're not going to cut your finger off over this are you apprentice", Robyn asked her seriously. "No, I don't think so", she replied just as seriously. "Good. That probably wasn't one of my brighter ideas but don't tell anyone I said that, she laughed. They buried Jaqen in the garden he had loved beneath a bush with red flowers. They both pretended not to notice the others tears.

Two days later Robyn came through the door and told her to pack everything she owned. She did so without question thinking that she was going back to the House of Black and White. She was shocked when she came back downstairs to find Robyn waiting on her with a pack of her own. "Where are we going?", she asked her. "You'll see", Robyn replied heading for the door.

As Robyn paddled her little boat along the canal she thought of something she wanted to ask her about that had been bothering her. "Robyn do you think anyone in Westeros will find out that it was me that killed Cersei?" Robyn looked at her for a moment before replying. "You're a Faceless, no one knows you and everyone thinks that the person you use to be is dead. Besides what happens in Braavos stays in Braavos apprentice". Oddly enough for some reason that made her feel better.

When they arrived at the docks in Ragman's Harbor and started walking towards one of the ships she could barely contain herself. Does the Kindly Man know that I'm leaving?" "Of course he does and he said he'll see you when we return", Robyn replied. "What about my training?" "I can train you anywhere we find ourselves", she smiled. "Where are we going?", she demanded.

"South, to find a Targaryen Queen and see if dragons really exist", Robyn replied as she walked up the plank and boarded the ship. She stopped at the bottom of the plank and looked up at Robyn. "Dragons?", she whispered breathlessly. "Dragons, but first you're going to have to stop asking questions and get on the damn ship", Robyn laughed.

**Thanks for reading!**


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